The men sang, "And the lady round the gent."
Marise and Nelly stepped off, overlaying the men's invisible circle with one of their own.
The room beyond boiled with the dervish-like whirling of the dancers. The fiddle rose louder and shriller, faster and faster. The men sang at the tops of their voices, and beat time heavily. Under cover of this rolling clamor, Vincent called out boldly to Marise, "A symbol of life! A symbol of our life!" and did not know if she heard him.
"Then
The lady around the lady."
Nelly and Marise circled each other.
"And
The gent around the gent."
He and Frank followed them.
His head was turning, the room staggered around him. Nelly's warm, vibrant hand was again in his. They were in their places. Frank's voice rose, resounding, "Promenade all!"
Nelly abandoned herself to his arms, in the one brief moment of close physical contact of the dance. They raced to the end of the room.
The music stopped abruptly, but it went on in his head.