in the square of darkness formed by one of the open windows the effect being that of a portrait by or it was his assistant dare leaning on the of the as he smoked his and surveyed the gay groups beneath after holding a chattering conversation with some ladies from a neighbouring country seat who had known his father in years and handing them and till they were satisfied he found an opportunity of leaving the grounds wishing to learn a what progress dare had made in the survey of the castle dare was still in the when he entered informed the youth that there was no necessity for his working later that day unless to please himself and proceeded to inspect dare s achievements thus far to his vexation dare had not three dimensions during the previous two days this was not the first time that dare either from or had shown his as a house and mr dare said i fear you don t suit me well enough to make it necessary that you should stay after this week dare removed the from his lips and bowed if i don t suit the sooner i go the better why wait the week he said well that s as you like drew the towards him wrote out a for dare s services and handed it across the table i ll not trouble you to morrow said dare seeing that the pa included the week in advance very well replied please lock the door when you leave shaking hands with dare and wishing him well he left the room and descended to the lawn below there he contrived to get near miss power again and inquired of her for miss de oh did you not know said her father is and she preferred with him this afternoon i hoped he might have been here george oh no he never comes out of his house to any party of this sort it him and he must not be excited poor sir william murmured no said he is grand and historical that is hardly an notion for a said i am not a insisted ib q i t o t r r going in to the dining hall when had taken in two or three ladies to whom he had been presented and attended to their wants which occupied him three quarters of an hour he returned again to the large tent with a view to finding and taking his leave it was now brilliantly lighted up and the who during daylight had been invisible behind the ash tree were at one end with their and it reminded him that there was to be dancing the tent had in the mean time half filled with a new set of young people who had come expressly for that behind the girls gathered numbers of newly arrived young men with low shoulders and who were evidently prepared for once to sacrifice themselves as partners felt something of a thrill at the sight he was an and particularly unprepared for dancing at present but to dance once with power he would give a year of his life he looked round but she was nowhere to be seen the first set began old and middle aged people gathered from the different rooms to look on at the of their children but did not appear when o a other dance or two had and an increase in th average age of the dancers was making itself perceptible especially on the masculine side was aroused by a whisper at his elbow you dance i think miss is disengaged she has not been asked once this evening the speaker was looked at miss � a sallow lady with black twinkling eyes yellow costume and gay laugh who had been there all the afternoon � and said something about having thought of going home is that because i asked you to dance she murmured there � she is appropriated a young gentleman had at that moment approached the miss claimed her hand and led her off that s right said i ought to leave room for younger men you need not say so that bald headed gentleman is forty five he does not think of younger men have w a dance to spare for me her face grew stealthily in the candle light oh � i have no engagement at all � i have refused i hardly feel at liberty to dance it would be as well to leave that to my visitors why my father though he allowed me to be taught never liked the idea of my dancing did he make you promise anything on the point he said he was not in favour of such amusements � no more i think you are not bound by that on an occasion like the present she was silent george l l you will just once said he another silence if you like she answered at last closed the hand which was hanging by his side and somehow hers was in it the dance was nearly formed and he led her forward several persons looked at them significantly but he did not notice it then and plunged into the never had mr passed through such an experience before had he not felt her actual weight and warmth he might have fancied the whole episode a of the imagination it seemed as if those had thrown a double sweetness into their notes on seeing the mistress of the castle in the dance that a southern atmosphere had begun to the and that human beings were shaking themselves free of all inconvenient s feelings burst from his lips this is the happiest moment i have ever known he said do you know why i think i saw a flash of lightning through the opening of the tent said with he did not press for an answer within a few minutes a long 