midnight
It was the face of a corpse ; it was the head of a skeleton ; it was a monstrous visage , with snaky locks , like Medusa 's , and one great red eye in the centre of the forehead . Again , it was affirmed that there was no single and unchangeable set of features beneath the veil ; but that whosoever should be bold enough to lift it would behold the features of that person , in all the world , who was destined to be his fate ; perhaps he would be greeted by the tender smile of the woman whom he loved , or , quite as probably , the deadly scowl of his bitterest enemy would throw a blight over his life . They quoted , moreover , this startling explanation of the whole affair : that the magician who exhibited the Veiled Lady -- and who , by the bye , was the handsomest man in the whole world -- had bartered his own soul for seven years ' possession of a familiar fiend , and that the last year of the contract was wearing towards its close . If it were worth our while , I could keep you till an hour beyond midnight listening to a thousand such absurdities as these . But finally our friend Theodore , who prided himself upon his common-sense , found the matter getting quite beyond his patience . `` I offer any wager you like , '' cried he , setting down his glass so forcibly as to break the stem of it , `` that this very evening I find out the mystery of the Veiled Lady ! '' Young men , I am told , boggle at nothing over their wine ; so , after a little more talk , a wager of considerable amount was actually laid , the money staked , and Theodore left to choose his own method of settling the dispute .