Not so, I answered. Can aught be said against her reputation? no!—a thousand times no—and as for her dress, is it not the perfection of what all others in the room are but a crude attempt to accomplish? Does it not disclose a form intrinsically beautiful, and admit of a grace and "poetry of motion" quite unknown to those encumbered with petticoats? Yes, look at her backward and forward movements—see how she entwines her lithe limbs with those of her enraptured partner as they oscillate, advance, recede, and rotate, as though they were "spitted on the same bodkin."

"Thus front to front the partners move or stand,

The foot may rest, but none withdraw the hand."

This, sir, is but one of the many improvements on the waltz.

And pray, sir, are not this lady to the right and that one in the center, vainly endeavoring to achieve the same feat? The only difference is that this lady is better dressed, more ably taught than either; is she to be censured because she has the talent and industry to do well, that which they have neither the courage, energy, nor ability to perform?

[Original]