"And every criminal can take advantage of the right," replied Eugene. "Behind a mask every man has a good character, for nobody knows who he is."
"I beg pardon, excellenza. The republican fathers, through their sbirri, know every man in Venice. If you will take the trouble to look around you in the market-place, you will see how now and then a masker is touched on the shoulder, when his mask drops at once, or he escapes among the crowd to avoid public exposure."
"Then, I suppose that a stranger has no hope of seeing the beautiful women here?" observed Eugene, smiling.
"Pardon me; to-day, at the regatta, no masks will be worn, and your excellency will see all the beauty of Venice, both patrician and plebeian."
"Why, then, do YOU wear a mask?"
"I wear it habitually, having a fancy to go about incognito."
"Nevertheless, you must remove it now, for I cannot take a man into my service incognito."
The man raised his left hand, withdrew the mask, and revealed to sight a face that was colorless save where it had been marked with a deep-red scar from temple to jaw.
"You are indeed conspicuous, and not to be mistaken by those who have seen you once. Whence came this scar?"
"I received it two years ago, excellenza, at the taking of Prevosa."