| abstract | - Master Payne is head of Master Payne's Circus of Adventure and minorly Sparky self-professed [ evil (or is that good?)] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] magician. According to the print novel Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess, his rarely-used first name is Hieronymus. He is married to Countess Marie (to whom he often wisely defers as issuer of the last word), a member of the International Brotherhood of Evil Magicians, and protective of his circus family as its pseudo-patriarch. He is responsible and deeply aware of the long-term difficulties of hiding a troupe of minor sparks in Europa. He is a captivating [ ringmaster] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] in his star-spangled longcoat, and knows how to manipulate an audience with his flashy brand of illusion. He has a superstitious (or perhaps just highly intuitive) side, seriously observing and relying on Moxana's mysterious games. He is also superb at [ quickly assessing talent when he sees it] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]]. Agatha first encounters [ him] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] when he realizes she is on the run from Castle Wulfenbach, where he firmly rejects the idea of such a fugitive traveling with the circus. However, following Agatha's helping destroy a monstrous clank that attacks the circus, he is also responsible for keeping Agatha with the circus and [ disguising her] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] from Bang Dupree and Gilgamesh Wulfenbach when [ they appear at the circus] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] searching for her. Clearly, he is quick at devising a good subterfuge, paying off his karmic (if not monetary) debts and respecting honorable risk-takers when he meets them. However, Master Payne is not one for [ foolish bravery] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]]; he knows that despite his troupe being Sparky, they are still actors and not trained to handle real combat like Zeetha or the Jägermonsters. After [ (heroically and/or foolishly} stealing] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] one of the Baron's airships to rescue Agatha and faced with the horrible prospect of disbanding his beloved circus/family, Master Payne accepts Ardsley Wooster's offer to take the Circus of Adventure to England, where he and it are presumably now located. His name, despite being a homophone for pain, may be a reference to a pane of glass, as would be used to create a mirror, appropriate for a man who uses "smoke and mirrors" to hide things.
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