How he managed it I know not, nor is it of any great importance to
this veracious legend. The most natural way, to be sure, was by
bribing the doorkeeper,--or possibly he preferred clambering in at
the window. But, at any rate, that very evening, while the
exhibition was going forward in the hall, Theodore contrived to gain
admittance into the private withdrawing-room whither the Veiled Lady
was accustomed to retire at the close of her performances. There he
waited, listening, I suppose, to the stifled hum of the great
audience; and no doubt he could distinguish the deep tones of the
magician, causing the wonders that he wrought to appear more dark and
intricate, by his mystic pretence of an explanation. Perhaps, too,
in the intervals of the wild breezy music which accompanied the
exhibition, he might hear the low voice of the Veiled Lady, conveying
her sibylline responses. Firm as Theodore's nerves might be, and
much as he prided himself on his sturdy perception of realities, I
should not be surprised if his heart throbbed at a little more than
its ordinary rate.
Theodore concealed himself behind a screen. In due time the
performance was brought to a close, and whether the door was softly
opened, or whether her bodiless presence came through the wall, is
more than I can say, but, all at once, without the young man's
knowing how it happened, a veiled figure stood in the centre of the
room. It was one thing to be in presence of this mystery in the hall
of exhibition, where the warm, dense life of hundreds of other
mortals kept up the beholder's courage, and distributed her influence
among so many; it was another thing to be quite alone with her, and
that, too, with a hostile, or, at least, an unauthorized and
unjustifiable purpose.
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