CHAPTER III.
“When the supper-party had at length assembled, and the old gentleman made his remarks as before, the strange lady, to his utter consternation, made her appearance with a wreath precisely like that of his daughter’s. His curiosity now got the better almost of his politeness, and as she still wore her mask, he could not help addressing himself to her with the words, ‘Fair lady, might I venture so great a liberty as to ask your name?’ The incognita, however, shook her head with a mournful abstracted air, and did not answer him one word. At the same time, the house-steward came and wished to know whether the party had been increased in number, as the covers appointed for the dinner-table were now found insufficient. His master answered in the negative, and, in a tone of much irritation, insisting that the servants must have made some blunder. The
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