The Count of Monte Cristo

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received his master's orders, and drove down the Via del Babuino.
While the three gentlemen walked along the Piazza de Spagni and the
Via Frattina, which led directly between the Fiano and Rospoli palaces,
Franz's attention was directed towards the windows of that last palace,
for he had not forgotten the signal agreed upon between the man in the
mantle and the Transtevere peasant. "Which are your windows?" asked he
of the count, with as much indifference as he could assume. "The three
last," returned he, with a negligence evidently unaffected, for he could
not imagine with what intention the question was put. Franz glanced
rapidly towards the three windows. The side windows were hung with
yellow damask, and the centre one with white damask and a red cross. The
man in the mantle had kept his promise to the Transteverin, and there
could now be no doubt that he was the count. The three windows were
still untenanted. Preparations were making on every side; chairs were
placed, scaffolds were raised, and windows were hung with flags. The
masks could not appear; the carriages could not move about; but the
masks were visible behind the windows, the carriages, and the doors.