"I suppose you'll ask her for a dance with you?" she continued, with a smile.
"I shall certainly not fail in this duty to a friend of yours and Miss Maud's!"
"Miss Maud and I thank you very much for the attention," she said, with a ceremonious bow; "only," she added, smiling maliciously at me, "I must prepare you for a disappointment, which you will, no doubt, feel very much afflicted by—our friend does not dance!"
"What, never?"
"We have given several little parties at my father's rooms, and have never been able to persuade her to."
"Ah! that's no doubt because she only knows her oriental dances."
"You're quite wrong there! She has taken lessons just as we have, and waltzes splendidly; but she won't even dance with the professor; it's always Maud or I who act as her partners. She has some principles on this subject which appear to be rooted in her, and which we have not yet succeeded in overcoming."
"If you would help me this evening," I said, "perhaps we can succeed between us."
"What, is it to be a conspiracy?"
"Quite a friendly one, for you must admit that it is for her own interest."