"Come on! You must!"

"Oh, Cecil—please—"

But he had his way; and, as usual, everybody watched her while the charming music lasted,—Clive among the others, standing a little apart, lean, erect, his dark gaze fixed.

She came back to him after the dance, delicately flushed and a trifle breathless.

"Do you dance that in England?" she asked.

"It's danced—not at Court functions, I believe."

"You never did care to dance, did you?"

"No—" he shrugged, "I used to mess about some."

"And what do you do to amuse yourself in these days?"

"Nothing—much."