"I have another word for it," he said.
"The devil you have! There, it is off at last! You may have perceived that I have been tugging at your ring for the last ten minutes. It should, of course, have been cast at your feet some time ago, but the confounded thing was always too tight. Take it!"
He looked at her for a moment, then held out his hand without a word. She dropped the ring into it, turned sharply on her heel, and went out of the room.
It was some time before the Colonel followed her, but he went back into the ballroom presently, and sought out Miss Devenish. "Forgive me!" he said. "I have kept you waiting."
She looked up with a start. "Oh! I beg your pardon. I was not attending! What did you say?"
"Isn't this our dance?" he asked.
"Our dance - oh yes, of course! How stupid of me"' She got up, resolutely smiling, but he made no movement to lead her on to the floor. "What is it?" he said quietly.
She gave a gasp, and pressed her handkerchief to her lips. "Nothing! nothing!"
He took her arm. "Come into the garden. You must not cry here."
She allowed herself to be propelled towards the long, open window, but when they stood on the terrace she said in a trembling voice: "You must think me mad! It is the heat: my head aches with it!"