"The Yellow Mask again!"
They all three turned round directly toward the door. But it was
too late--the figure had disappeared.
"Does any one know who this Yellow Mask is?" asked Finello. "One
may guess by the walk that the figure is a woman's. Perhaps it
may be the strange color she has chosen for her dress, or perhaps
her stealthy way of moving from room to room; but there is
certainly something mysterious and startling about her."
"Startling enough, as the count would tell you," said D'Arbino.
"The Yellow Mask has been responsible for his loss of spirits and
change of complexion, and now she has prevented him even from
drinking his wine."
"I can't account for it," said Fabio, looking round him uneasily;
"but this is the third room into which she has followed me--the
third time she has seemed to fix her eyes on me alone. I suppose
my nerves are hardly in a fit state yet for masked balls and
adventures; the sight of her seems to chill me. Who can she be?"
"If she followed me a fourth time," said Finello, "I should
insist on her unmasking."
"And suppose she refused?" asked his friend
"Then I should take her mask off for her."
"It is impossible to do that with a woman," said Fabio. "I prefer
trying to lose her in the crowd. Excuse me, gentlemen, if I leave
you to finish the wine, and then to meet me, if you like, in the
great ballroom.
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