After Dark The Professor's Story of the Yellow Mask Part First Chapter I

In which we are introduced to the indomitable Demoiselle Grifoni, a shrewd milliner of Pisa who secures her triumph by engaging a French forewoman named Mademoiselle Virginie, only to find unexpected connections and rivalries emerging within her establishment. The narrative delicately unfolds the intertwining lives of Brigida—a cunning assistant—and the pale, simple Nanina, whose association with a group of sculptors and a wealthy nobleman stirs both hope and suspicion beneath the surface of their modest surroundings.