I have very little recollection of that dance; but I do know that Dehra needed no instruction in our way of doing the two-step; she glided through it as naturally as a Point-girl herself. And, when I told her so, she shrugged her pretty shoulders and answered:
"You are not the first American attaché, you know."
"Nor the last, either," I replied, and then held my peace, though I saw her hide a smile behind her roses.
"But you are the first that has been my cousin," she said sweetly,—and I succumbed, of course. Yet I was punished promptly, nevertheless, for at the throne she stopped and I led her back to the King.
"May I not have another dance later?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Don't you think you have been already favored more than you deserve, cousin?"
"Yes," said I, "I do; that's why I am encouraged to ask for more."
"What a paragon of modesty!" she mocked.
I passed it by. "And the dance?" I asked.
"I shall dance no more to-night," she said. Then we reached the door and found the small room crowded with officials and dignitaries. The Princess halted sharply. "But you may take me for a turn on the terrace," she concluded.