Chapter 34.

Franz and Albert reach the Colosseum by a route chosen to preserve its full impact. While Albert tours with guides, Franz withdraws and overhears a clandestine meeting between a cloaked gentleman and a Transteverin. They discuss two imminent executions: Andrea Rondola (to be mazzolato) and Peppino (to be decapitated). The Transteverin proposes a violent rescue; the cloaked man promises to buy a reprieve with gold and sets a signal at the Café Rospoli: two yellow draperies and a white one with a red cross if successful, all yellow if not.

Franz recognizes the cloaked man’s voice as his former host, “Sinbad the Sailor.” He stays hidden, then rejoins Albert, but spends a sleepless night connecting the Colosseum voice with Monte Cristo. The next evening at the Teatro Argentino, Franz and Albert join Countess G—. Across the way, a beautiful Greek woman sits with a deathly pale man; when he steps forward, Franz confirms he is the same mysterious person. Countess G—, unnerved by his appearance, insists Franz escort her home.

Back at the hotel, Albert jokes about the man’s elegance and reveals he heard him speak Romaic. Albert proposes a Carnival cart-and-ox tableau, but Signor Pastrini arrives with a better offer: the Count of Monte Cristo invites them to ride in his carriage and occupy two windows at the Palazzo Rospoli. Franz sees this as a way to verify the Colosseum signal.

At dawn, Franz confirms via a public execution notice (tavoletta) the details he overheard. He wakes Albert, and they decide to thank their neighbor. Ushered into lavish rooms, they hear a guzla before the Count of Monte Cristo himself appears—the same man from the grotto, the Colosseum, and the opera—ending Franz’s doubts.