“Hope to see you again, Miss Vincent, when the dancing begins,” said Mr. Ames as they withdrew.
Now came Robert and his companions.
“Dancing?” repeated Robert in a high key. “Anybody taken your first waltz, Miss Vincent?” Rosalie shook her head.
“Mine, then. Is it?”
“If you wish,” said the girl, and then took Mrs. Bruce’s mechanically offered hand.
This lady had keyed herself to one master-effort, and she said now:—
“You know, I always believed you could.”
“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Bruce!”
Rosalie’s smile of gratitude, her low tone, and the sudden moisture that dimmed her eyes, should have touched the heart of her benefactress; but that organ could not hold another emotion. Mrs. Bruce slightly bowed and smiled, and moved slowly away.