isgrace and misery upon embracing men. Dancers of the old
school, whose forte lay in quadrilles and contra-dances, cutting strange
capers, with faces of earnest gravity. People smiling whenever spoken
to, and without hearing what was said; and on-lookers smiling, by a sort
of photographic process, at fun in which they had no concern.
Introductions, where the lady was self-possessed and bewitching, the
gentleman monosyllabic and poker-like; others, where he was off-hand,
ogling, and facetious; she, timid, credulous, and blushing. All kinds of
costumes, from the solitary dress-coat, and low-necked ball-dress, worn
respectively by Mr. and Mrs. Van Brueck from Albany, to the mixed tweed
sack and trousers, and the checked gingham, adorning the Browne boy and
girl.

"How foolish it all seems when you're not doing it yourself!" remarked
Cornelia at last, laughing softly.

"But very wise when you are."

"How beautifully you danced! I didn't know you could."

"I never did before--I couldn't, with any one but you. As soon as we
touched each other, I felt every thing through you."

"It was very strange, wasn't it? and yet I don't wonder at it, somehow."

"It would have been stranger not to have been so."

"Why, how have you been hearing what I said?" suddenly exclaimed
Cornelia, looking at him in surprise; "I've been almost whispering all
this time!"

"Have you? It sounded loud enough to me. But I could hear you think
to-night, I believe. Will it be so to-morrow, do you suppose?"

"To-morrow!" repeated Cornelia. "Dear me! to-morrow is my last day
here."

"The last day!" echoed Bressant, in a tone of dismay. "Shall we find one
another the same as to-night when you come back?"

"Why not?" responded she, with a resumption of cheerfulness. "I sha'n't
be gone but three months."

So the conversation lingered along, until gradually the greater part of
it was supported by Bressant, while Cornelia sat quiet and listened--a
thing she had never done before. But the young man's way of expressing
himself was picturesque and piquant, keeping the attention thoroughly
awake. His ideas and topics were original. He plunged into the midst of
a subject and talked backward and forward at the same time, yet conveyed
a marvelously clear idea of his meaning. Sometimes the last word was the
key-note that rendered the whole intelligible. And he had the bearing of
a man all unaccustomed to deal with women--ignorant of the traditional
arts of