"Unlucky man! you will have to ferry three of us down!" she said. "Mrs. Portal is insisting on Miss Allendner coming too. The poor soul has been so depressed ever since the fire——"
"Good," said Bramham. "The carriage will hold a quartette easily, but if you want more room for your skirts, I'll sit up aloft."
"Not at all. You will come in with us or I shall sit up aloft too."
They laughed, and he asked if he might secure a dance or two from her now.
"I know it's no use asking for the first waltz," he ventured.
"Oh, yes ... you can have it, if you like."
"What?"
"Yes, really—and whichever others you like." Bramham seized her card blithely.
"Now this comes of getting ahead of pirates like Abinger and Carson——"
"But ... he ... has not returned?" she asked quickly. It occurred to Bramham to be wily in the interest of his dances. Carson is big enough and ugly enough to look after himself, was his thought.