“Of course not.”
Jack could not talk. He understood the situation now, and his brain was in a whirl. Through his head flashed wild schemes for rescuing this girl from the red-shirted ruffian and giving her to the one she loved. The thought that she might be forced into marriage with the big brute in the red shirt caused the Virginian to grind his teeth.
Diamond longed to talk to her of this, but he knew there was no way of doing so on such short acquaintance. After a time he recovered enough to talk of music, upon which he was posted and in which he was interested, and this subject proved a sympathetic bond between them.
The girl was pleased with Jack, for she saw in him the perfect gentleman, who treated her with as much courtesy as if she had been the finest lady in the land.
The dance was almost over when she shyly asked him if he waltzed. He did. She said it was not easy to find partners for the waltz, and then she blushed furiously and laughed to cover her confusion. Jack asked her to waltz with him.
“The next waltz?” she murmured.
“Of course.”
“I will. They will have a waltz after this dance, I think.”
When the quadrille was over, Jack escorted her to the ladies’ dressing room, and waited outside for her to reappear.