There, let me pass." I got past him at last, and made my way swiftly towards the other end of the quadrangle.
As I approached, the sound of voices smote my ear, for the lighted window stood open.

I stopped within half a dozen paces of it, and climbed on to the step of a coach that stood there.

Thence I could look straight into the room, whilst the darkness hid me from the eyes of those I watched.
Three men there were; Montresor, the sergeant of his troop, and a tall man dressed in black, and wearing a black silk mask.

This I concluded to be St.Auban, despite the profusion of fair locks that fell upon his shoulders, concealing--I rightly guessed--his natural hair, which was as black as my own.

It was a cunning addition to his disguise, and one well calculated to lead people on to the wrong scent hereafter.
Presently, as I watched them, St.Auban spoke, and his voice was that of a man whose gums are toothless, or else whose nether lip is drawn in over his teeth whilst he speaks.