"Ah, good evening, Mr. Landreth," she answered turning toward the speaker. "You are welcome to them gratis. I am wondering where I have seen Miss Marsden's admirer before to-night, or if it is only a resemblance, real or fancied, to some one else that I see in him."
"I cannot tell, indeed," he said, furtively watching the man for a moment, "but there is something in his face that would make me sorry to see him ingratiating himself with a lady friend of mine."
"Excuse me, but I must ask you to move, as we are going to dance and want this sofa behind you, put out of the way," said Reba, coming up to them with two servants.
"Certainly," Mildred said, taking Mr. Landreth's offered arm.
They passed down the room and out into the conservatory beyond.
"Are you engaged for the first set?" he asked.
"No; nor for any other," she answered with a smile. "I do not dance, Mr. Landreth."
"It is not too late to begin," he remarked persuasively.
"No, it is too soon."
"You don't think it wrong?" he queried as in surprise, "here in your home as it were? It's different, is it not, from attending a ball?"