"Who?" Psyche heard the nun ask of the same Antonio. "Who is it to go to?"
Psyche wondered what it meant. With a quick move, at the signal for a change, Antonio was whirling off with the nun, and Psyche was left without a partner.
But a few moments later Antonio came back to her.
"I just wanted to see if I could make the little nun dance," he whispered, "and I did—all the way off the platform, for she's gone."
"She is standing there by the side of Adonis," replied Psyche directly. "And she seems to be in the way."
"Soliciting alms," almost sneered Antonio. "That's her business, I suppose."
Psyche was glad when the waltz ended, and at the next figure she came in contact with Rosebud. It was to be a ladies' bouquet, and Rosebud made the centerpiece, with all the other pretty sprites in a circle about her. Then the boys, in an outer ring, threw their flower-chained hands into the inner circle, thus each capturing a pretty partner.
The milkmaid fell into Antonio's arms. He almost caught her up from the floor.
"Don't!" she objected as she felt his hands on her bare arm. "Your hands are—are too damp. They'll take all the starch out of my sleeves."
"Sign of a warm heart," he answered as he led her away.