"Miss Mason, this young man bewilders me and leads me astray. See what it is to be a soldier and a patriot. Now I am going to carry you off and introduce you to some girls. Are you going to stay long enough to go to a ball? Every Virginia girl dances."
She was so bright and pretty that Mrs. Cutts was oddly interested in her.
"Oh, I adore dancing and riding! But I am afraid—my father is to send for me in a few days. If he were coming himself I might beg off. Your suggestion is so tempting."
"Perhaps you can. Now, here are some young people you must know," and turning away from the elders she introduced Jaqueline to a merry group.
"Miss Mason and I are old friends," declared Roger Carrington with a smile. "She has been visiting with us and left us inconsolable."
"Quite a compliment to your charms."
Jaqueline blushed. "Or to the delightful hospitality of Madam and Mrs. Carrington. My sister was with me, and she was quite melancholy. We did have a charming visit. I am afraid we shall be so spoiled that our Virginia wilds will prove desert wastes."
"Mr. Carrington, you must manage to keep Miss Mason over. The Dearborns are to give the young people a ball. We want it to be the event of the season, and that will soon be ended, alas! And we must gather the beauty and the chivalry."
There was quite a gay little whirl for some moments and more merry badinage. More than one envious eye was cast upon the young girl, for Roger Carrington was considered one of the prizes in the matrimonial market. Sir Augustus Foster, who was secretary of the English Legation some years before, had said there was no lack of handsome women, and that he never saw prettier girls anywhere, and that the City was one of the most marrying places on the whole continent.
"We missed you so very much," Roger began, when he had detached her a little from the group. "I had half a mind to come and confiscate one of you."