The previous night the couple had attended a private party to which they had been invited by an old customer of Vijai Chand, Alisha´s father, a shareholder of an old Italian bank. For that purpose they had rented costumes in a tailor shop and bought a pair of expensive Venetian masks.
After that they had separated to experience each one of them on his own night adventures through the streets crowded with masked characters that distributed sweet praises to the ladies and compliments to the best costumes. This strange custom followed the best traditions of the Venetian carnivals described in the plays of Carlo Goldoni. Romain had walked through streets, squares, and canals until he arrived to a bridge where he had agreed to meet Alisha at that hour. All the passers-by who crossed the bridge
