"It would be too late, now, anyway," she murmured, tentatively. "It is eight o'clock."
Adriance aroused himself and laughed.
"Oh, innocence! That ball-room does not open until eleven, fair outlander. But you had better get ready, for we have a quite respectable distance to go. Here vanishes our quiet evening!"
"We? You would take me?"
He regarded her curiously.
"Did you suppose I would go without you? We will have to go, because Fred means this; I know him well enough to tell. I'm afraid he is in some kind of trouble."
Elsie shut her eyes for a moment, mastering her passionate relief. She opened them to a new thought.
"Anthony, I haven't any clothes, for such a place."
"Neither have I," he calmly dismissed the matter. "We will go in street costume. It doesn't matter, since we do not want to dance. By the way, can you dance?"
"Certainly."