The first thing she saw, when looking out of her window, was a hearse.
She was very superstitious; and the hearse and the letter convinced
her that she was running the most serious dangers that evening.
She collected all her supporters, told them that she was threatened
at that evening's performance with a plot organized by Christine Daae
and declared that they must play a trick upon that chit by filling
the house with her, Carlotta's, admirers. She had no lack of them,
had she? She relied upon them to hold themselves prepared for any
eventuality and to silence the adversaries, if, as she feared,
they created a disturbance.
M. Richard's private secretary called to ask after the diva's health
and returned with the assurance that she was perfectly well and that,
"were she dying," she would sing the part of Margarita that evening.
The secretary urged her, in his chief's name, to commit no imprudence,
to stay at home all day and to be careful of drafts; and Carlotta could
not help, after he had gone, comparing this unusual and unexpected
advice with the threats contained in the letter.
It was five o'clock when the post brought a second anonymous letter
in the same hand as the first.
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