"It is indeed an excellent painting," exclaimed Miss Metoaca, her eyes twinkling. "You are to be congratulated, Mrs. Arnold. I must go and find Nancy, as I want to introduce her to Mrs. Scott, the wife of the new member from Pennsylvania."
"Let me escort you, Miss Metoaca," said the Senator gallantly.
Nancy was not hard to find, and, after she had met Mrs. Scott, Senator Warren asked her to sit out a dance with him.
"If I can escape my next partner, I will do so with pleasure."
"Suppose we sit in that alcove by the palms, he will never find us there," suggested the senator, and he led the way to the sofa, which was partially concealed from view, only to find Mrs. Bennett comfortably installed on one end of it.
"There is plenty of room for all," she declared, as Nancy drew back. "Colonel Bennett has gone with Mr. Arnold, and, being partnerless, I came over here to enjoy watching the dancers. Where is Mrs. Warren this evening, Senator?"
"Sick in bed with a bad headache," returned Warren, sitting down between the two women. "I would not have come to-night, but she insisted it would not be neighborly to back out at the last moment."
"So, like an obedient American husband, you sacrificed yourself," laughed Nancy, her small foot keeping time to the dreamy strains of the waltz, "Brightest Eyes."
"I am managing to have a very comfortable time," retorted the Senator. He ceased speaking as a man in uniform stepped to Nancy's side and touched her on the shoulder.
"Miss Newton, you are to come with me."