"I should not have gone to this sort of thing anywhere else, you know; it is not in my line, as my mother says. I came to see you."
"And I would rather see you, Jan, than anybody else in the room—with one exception," was the reply of Sir Edmund. "I am sorry not to see Lionel."
"He couldn't come," answered Jan. "His wife turned crusty, and said she'd come if he did—something of that—and so he stayed at home. She is very ill, and she wants to ignore it, and go out all the same. It is not fit she should."
"Pray do you mean to dance, Jan?" inquired Lady Verner, the question being put ironically.
"I?" returned Jan. "Who'd dance with me?"
"I'll dance with you, Jan," said Lady Mary.
Jan shook his head. "I might get my feet entangled in the petticoats."
"Not you, Jan," said Sir Edmund, laughing. "I should risk that, if a lady asked me."
"She'd not care to dance with me," returned Jan, looking at Mary Elmsley. "She only says it out of good-nature."
"No, Jan, I don't think I do," frankly avowed Lady Mary. "I should like to dance with you."