"
"That is your second reason; but I believe you have another yet.
The suddenness with which you sent to me last night to appoint a
meeting in this lonely place; the emphatic manner in which you
requested--I may almost say ordered--me to bring the wax mask
here, suggest to my mind that something must have happened. What
is it? I am a woman, and my curiosity must be satisfied. After
the secrets you have trusted to me already, you need not
hesitate, I think, to trust me with one more."
"Perhaps not. The secret this time is, moreover, of no great
importance. You know that the wax mask you wore at the ball was
made in a plaster mold taken off the face of my brother's
statue?"
"Yes, I know that."
"My brother has just returned to his studio; has found a morsel
of the plaster I used for the mold sticking in the hair of the
statue; and has asked me, as the person left in charge of his
work-rooms, for an explanation. Such an explanation as I could
offer has not satisfied him, and he talks of making further
inquiries. Considering that it will be used no more, I think it
safest to destroy the wax mask, and I asked you to bring it here,
that I might see it burned or broken up with my own eyes. Now you
know all you wanted to know; and now, therefore, it is my turn to
remind you that I have not yet had a direct answer to the first
question I addressed to you when we met here.
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