And now the candles were five!

Following, Leila went to the piano, and Porter and Mary gave a minuet.
They had learned it at dancing-school, and it had been years since they
had danced it. But they did it very well; Porter's somewhat stiff
bearing accorded with its stateliness, and Mary, having added to her
green velvet gown a little Juliet cap of lace and a lace fan, showed the
radiant, almost boyish beauty which had charmed Roger on the night of the
wedding.

His pulses throbbed as he watched her. They were a well-matched pair,
this young millionaire and the pretty maid. And as their orderly steps
went through the dance, so would their orderly lives, if they married,
continue to the end. But what could Porter Bigelow teach Mary Ballard of
the things which touch the stars?

And now the candles were seven! And the spirit of the carnival was upon
the company. Song was followed by story, and story by song--until at
last the room seemed to swim in a golden mist.

And through that mist Mary saw Roger Poole! He was leaning forward a
little, and there was about him the air of a man who waited.

She spoke impetuously.

"Mr. Poole," she said, "please----"

There was not a trace of awkwardness, not a hint of self-consciousness in
his manner as he answered her.