"Hardly that."
"Acquaintances I should have said," Mrs. Dillon murmured in embarrassment.
"You will pardon me I hope," Hanley Cron observed aloofly. Turning his back upon Penny he walked away.
"Oh, my dear, I'm terribly sorry," Mrs. Dillon fluttered. "I'll find you another partner."
"Please don't," Penny pleaded. "I really have no wish to dance at all."
"Of course, if that's the way you feel——"
"It is, Mrs. Dillon. I really am enjoying myself just watching the others."
Penny's statement was not quite true, for she had derived no pleasure from the party, and the rebuff she had received was quite enough to make her wish that she had remained at home. However, the reply served to satisfy the woman and she mercifully moved on to talk with another guest.
"Hanley Cron is the most ill-mannered man I ever met," Penny thought indignantly. "I wish Dad would come, then I could go home."
Her eyes smoldered wrathfully as she watched the art critic talking with a group of people near the refreshment table. She knew it was silly to allow herself to become annoyed because of his insulting manner, yet it was quite impossible to dismiss the man from her mind.