"Oh, they didn't. It was quite all right, Cleland. I really don't mind. Will you really drop in some day soon?"
"Yes."
Dancing began again. Grismer stepped back with the easy, graceful courtesy that became him, conceding Stephanie to Cleland as a matter of course; and the latter, who had been ready to claim her, found himself disarmed in advance.
"Is it Grismer's dance, Steve?" he asked.
"I promised him. But, Jim, I'm afraid to let you go——"
They all laughed, and she added:
"When a girl gets a man back after three long years, is it astonishing that she keeps tight hold of him?"
"You'd better dance with her, Cleland," said Grismer, smiling.
But Cleland could not accept a gift from this man, and he surrendered her with sufficient grace.
"Jim!" she said frankly. "You're not going after that dryad, are you? She's exceedingly common and quite shamelessly under-dressed. Shall I introduce you to a nice girl—or do you know a sufficient number?"