The persecution began to grow intolerable; he felt a
kind of angry curiosity mingling now with the vague dread that
had hitherto oppressed him. Finello's advice recurred to his
memory; and he determined to make the woman unmask at all
hazards. With this intention he returned to the supper-room in
which he had left his friends.
They were gone, probably to the ballroom, to look for him. Plenty
of wine was still left on the sideboard, and he poured himself
out a glass. Finding that his hand trembled as he did so, he
drank several more glasses in quick succession, to nerve himself
for the approaching encounter with the Yellow Mask. While he was
drinking he expected every moment to see her in the looking-glass
again; but she never appeared--and yet he felt almost certain
that he had detected her gliding out after him when he left the
ballroom.
He thought it possible that she might be waiting for him in one
of the smaller apartments, and, taking off his mask, walked
through several of them without meeting her, until he came to the
door of the refreshment-room in which Nanina and he had
recognized each other. The waiting-woman behind the table, who
had first spoken to him, caught sight of him now, and ran round
to the door.
"Don't come in and speak to Nanina again," she said, mistaking
the purpose which had brought him to the door. "What with
frightening her first, and making her cry afterward, you have
rendered her quite unfit for her work.
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