it plain that she had not danced because there was no one there
worth dancing with. Had she been out for a year or two, instead of
being such a novice, she would have accomplished all this in half a
dozen words. As it was, her tell-tale face confessed it all, and she
was only able to ejaculate, "Oh, Mr. Fitzgerald!"

"When I went there last night," he continued, "I had only one
wish--one hope. That was, to see you pleased and happy. I knew it
was your first ball, and I did so long to see you enjoy it."

"And so I did, till--"

"Till what? Will you not let me ask?"

"Mamma said something to me, and that stopped me from dancing."

"She told you not to dance with me. Was that it?"

How was it possible that she should have had a chance with him;
innocent, young, and ignorant as she was? She did not tell him in
words that so it had been; but she looked into his face with a
glance of doubt and pain that answered his question as plainly as
any words could have done.

"Of course she did; and it was I that destroyed it all. I that
should have been satisfied to stand still and see you happy. How you
must have hated me!"

"Oh no; indeed I did not. I was not at all angry with you. Indeed,
why should I have been? It was so kind of you, wishing to dance with