The LifeChurch founder, the Rev. Craig Groeschel, said that after 16 years in the ministry he knew that the smiles and eager handshakes that greeted him each week often masked a lot of pain.

Drummond decided that her room-temperature smile probably masked a room-temperature IQ.

"We thought about canceling, but so many people told me they were looking forward to it," said Mr. Fischer, whose easy smile almost masked the sadness and weariness in his eyes.

Polly's crooked smile masked a stab of painful yearning.

If she had the physique and manner of a femme fatale-private eye, she doubted if Arthur Rushkin, attorney-at-law, would have revealed that his beamy smiles masked an inner grief.

But in the 1993 election, the smile and his never-too-serious banter masked a sharp sense of political timing, an adeptness at taking advantage of lucky breaks and a knack for hiring good campaign operatives and ad teams.

She could not have known then that Capra's smile had masked an unfathomable rage.

The smiles on their faces masked the awkwardness of the moment.

Suddenly Tolocamp appeared, his genial smile not completely masking his disapproval of Moreta's dusty appearance.

Anne's pleasant gentle smile masked the knowledge that her royal husband's nervous humour was ever alert to the impossibility of securing every corner of the royal gardens.