next winter--with all those Spanish
grandmothers."

"Do you think so?" She liked him almost as well as Trennahan for the
moment.

He did not, for he had noted that she was lacking in natural grace; but
he was chivalrous, and he saw that she was discouraged.

"There's the music," he said. "Suppose we go out in the hall by
ourselves, and I will give you a little lesson. No?"

Magdalena was delighted, but she merely stood up in her unbending
dignity and said that she was glad to take advantage of his kindness.

He was a man who danced so well that he compelled some measure of
facility in his partner. Magdalena felt inspired at once, and carefully
obeyed every instruction.

"We will have a great many other lessons, no?" he said as the music
finished. "By the time that famous coming-out party of yours comes off,
you will be in great form."

"Will you open it with me?"

"I shall be delighted, and to help you all I can." They were walking
down the hall, and he was bending over her with an air of devotion which
she thought very pleasant. His accomplished eyes appealed to the
instinct of coquetry, buried deep in the seriousness of her nature, and
she smiled upon him and found herself talking with some ease.

She danced with all the young men, but they bored her as much as she
felt that she bored them. All the girls danced with her father, and he
seemed amiable and pleased, especially when Tiny was smiling upon him.
Ila, despite her elegance and refinement, suggested the ladies of his
leisure, Rose had too sharp a tongue, and Caro had an exaggerated
innocence of manner and eye which experience had led him to distrust.
But Tiny, beautiful, cool, and remote, reminded him of the women of his
youth, when he was a man of enthusiasms, ideals, and dreams.

Mr. Polk spent the evening wandering about alone or staring from the
hearth-rug. One or two of the girls asked him to dance, but he refused
brusquely. It was the first dance he had attended since the one given by
Thomas Larkin to celebrate the Occupation of California by the United
States.

The party broke up a little after twelve, and all assured Magdalena that
the party had been a success with such emphasis that she was convinced
that it had been; but when she was in bed and the light out, she cried
bitterly.

XXVII

There were no engagements for the following morning, and Magdalena was
sitting idly on the verandah when she saw Trennahan sauntering up the
d