The fifth section related that the writer, upon this, yielded to
temptation rather than forego the cherished purpose of his life
by allowing Fabio a chance of marrying again--that he made the
wax mask in a plaster mold taken from the face of his brother's
statue--and that he then had two separate interviews with a woman
named Brigida (of whom he had some previous knowledge ), who was
ready and anxious, from motives of private malice, to personate
the deceased countess at the masquerade. This woman had suggested
that some anonymous letters to Fabio would pave the way in his
mind for the approaching impersonation, and had written the
letters herself. However, even when all the preparations were
made, the writer declared that he shrank from proceeding to
extremities; and that he would have abandoned the whole project
but for the woman Brigida informing him one day that a work-girl
named Nanina was to be one of the attendants at the ball. He knew
the count to have been in love with this girl, even to the point
of wishing to marry her; he suspected that her engagement to wait
at the ball was preconcerted; and, in consequence, he authorized
his female accomplice to perform her part in the conspiracy.
The sixth section detailed the proceedings at the masquerade, and
contained the writer's confession that, on the night before it,
he had written to the count proposing the reconciliation of a
difference that had taken place between them, solely for the
purpose of guarding himself against suspicion.
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