In which the master-sculptor Luca Lomi confides in the count's doctor a grave familial secret that intertwines with a mysterious conspiracy aimed at controlling the count's future marital prospects, revealing a tangled web of duty, faith, and personal ambition. The narrative gently unfolds through a detailed confession, culminating in a careful preparation for an experiment involving the count, a wax mask, and the ever-watchful Nanina.

In which Signor Andrea D’Arbino discovers Count Fabio d’Ascoli in a swoon and they resolve to investigate the mysterious figure behind a yellow mask seen at the masquerade. Their inquiries lead them to the coachman who strangely admits to having driven the masked lady to and from the burial-ground, stirring a profound and unsettling reaction in Fabio.

In which the solitary Count Fabio wrestles with a sudden, inexplicable reluctance to attend a masked ball, only to find himself confronted by a mysterious woman in a striking yellow domino who seems to haunt his every turn amidst the gaiety and clatter of the evening’s entertainments. Despite the throng and the laughter, an uncanny chill attends their encounters, culminating in a bewildering revelation that stirs old memories and unsettles the very foundations of his guarded composure.

In which the sombre shadow of bereavement alters the lives of the Lomi family, leading Father Rocco to a withdrawn routine interrupted only by a puzzling breach with young Fabio and the receipt of most perplexing anonymous letters. The uneasy meeting between priest and nobleman, fraught with veiled warnings and unexplained reticence, sets the tone for an imminent event that neither wishes to face with full understanding.

In which a carefully guarded young woman departs from the house of her watchers under a cloud of suspicion, prompting the concerned Father Rocco to seek out her whereabouts and well-being with a mixture of regret and resolution. Meanwhile, the shadow of a grievous family affliction falls upon the household of the sculptor Fabio d’Ascoli, bringing sorrow and whispered anticipation of imminent loss.

In which Fabio Melani sits anxiously in the yellow satin room once favoured by his ailing wife, torn between his concern for her and the unexpected letter from Nanina that rekindles old memories and sorrows. As night deepens, the doctors deliver grim news, and the urgency grows to summon those nearest to the suffering Marchesa, underscoring the heavy shadow cast over the household.

In which the preparations for a grand masked ball at the Melani Palace reveal the marquis’s eccentric hospitality and his quest to secure thirty trustworthy and beautiful young women as shepherdesses for the event. Among these is Nanina, a poor but respectable girl recently returned to Pisa, whose engagement to serve at the ball hints at new prospects amidst her quiet uncertainties.

In which the charitable Father Rocco moves among the poorest quarters with a kindly familiarity, bringing comfort and counsel to the humble Nanina and her sister, while gently confronting the delicate matter of her tender attachment to the noble Signor Fabio. The good priest urges Nanina to make a painful but wise choice for their mutual welfare, leaving her to decide whether to send a silent signal of resolve from her window.

In which we are introduced to the sculptor Luca Lomi’s workshop, where skilful hands and keen eyes fashion marble and clay into striking representations, while a delicate tension brews among the young nobleman Fabio, the model Nanina, and Maddalena Lomi, Luca’s impassioned daughter. Within these marbled walls, discussions of art, love, and family secrets unfold quietly, shadowed by the priest Father Rocco’s grave concerns about inheritance and duty to the Church.

In which the distinguished Grifoni establishment weathers the sudden illness of a Parisian dressmaker and the mysterious disappearance, then return, of an Italian work-woman named Brigida, whose spirited tale of failed ambitions and bitter rivalries among the artistic and noble circles of Pisa unfolds with intrigue. As the shadows lengthen over the Arno, secrets stir behind grand façades, and the delicate balance of social fortunes remains poised between whispered malice and guarded hopes.