His voice had an edge that belied the smile on his lips.
The deep set blue eyes held a smile that belied his solemn expression.
His expression was nothing if not amiable, yet there was a twinkle in his eyes that belied the surface calm.
The tick in his jaw belied how tightly his teeth were clamped.
That opportunity came when Basil died in 1533, leaving as successor a child only three years old, and the chances seemed all on the side of the nobles; but the result belied the current expectations, for the child came to be known in history as Ivan the Terrible, and died half a century later in the full enjoyment of unlimited autocratic power.