use. In former years the music had
been furnished by local Negro musicians, but there were no longer any
of these, and a band of string music was brought in from another town.
So far as mere wealth was concerned, the subscribers touched such
extremes as Ben Dudley on the one hand and Colonel French on the
other, and included Barclay Fetters, whom Graciella had met on the
evening before her disappointment.

The Treadwell ladies were of course invited, and the question of ways
and means became paramount. New gowns and other accessories were
imperative. Miss Laura's one party dress had done service until it was
past redemption, and this was Graciella's first Assembly Ball. Miss
Laura took stock of the family's resources, and found that she could
afford only one gown. This, of course, must be Graciella's. Her own
marriage would entail certain expenses which demanded some present
self-denial. She had played wall-flower for several years, but now
that she was sure of a partner, it was a real sacrifice not to attend
the ball. But Graciella was young, and in such matters youth has a
prior right; for she had yet to find her mate.

Graciella magnanimously offered to remain at home, but was easily
prevailed upon to go. She was not entirely happy, for the humiliating
failure of her hopes had left her for the moment without a recognised
admirer, and the fear of old maidenhood had again laid hold of her
heart. Her Aunt Laura's case was no consoling example. Not one man in
a hundred would choose a wife for Colonel French's reasons. Most men
married for beauty, and Graciella had been told that beauty that
matured early, like her own, was likely to fade early.

One humiliation she was spared. She had been as silent about her hopes
as Miss Laura was about her engagement. Whether this was due to mere
prudence or to vanity--the hope of astonishing her little world by
the unexpected announcement--did not change the comforting fact that
she had nothing to explain and nothing for which to be pitied. If her
friends, after the manner of young ladies, had hinted at the subject
and sought to find a meaning in Colonel French's friendship, she had
smiled enigmatically. For this self-restraint, whatever had been its
motive, she now reaped her reward. The announcement of her aunt's
engagement would account for the colonel's attentions to Graciella as
a mere courtesy to a young relative of his affianced.

With regard to Ben, Graciella was quite un