ling with scorn: 'Verily, Herr
Baron, a charming performance!' she said. 'You ask me to dance with
you--you dance with another lady, and throw the whole room into
confusion.' You may picture to yourself my apologies and excuses.
'These practical jokes are a speciality of yours, Herr Baron,'
Victorine went on, scarcely containing her anger. 'I know you--but I
beg that you will not select _me_ as the object of that cutting irony
of yours in the future.' With that she left me standing. The lady I had
been dancing with then came up amiability--nay, I may say, even
affectionateness--personified. The poor child had taken fire. I cannot
wonder at it; but is it any fault of mine? Oh, Victorine! Victorine!
Oh, ill-starred '_seize_'--dance of the furies, which has consigned me
to the depths of Orcus!"

Ludwig closed his eyes, groaned and sighed. His friend had the grace
not to break out into irrepressible laughter.

When Ludwig had taken a cup or two of chocolate--without this time
burning his lips--he seemed to recover himself to some extent, and bear
his terrible fate with somewhat greater equanimity. Presently he said
to Euchar, who had been interesting himself in a book which he had
taken up. "You had an invitation to that accursed ball yourself, had
you not?"

"I had," said Euchar, scarcely looking up from the page.

"And you never came--and you never told me that you had one, at all."

"I had another engagement," said Euchar, "as it happened, which
prevented me from going to the ball--an engagement of far greater
importance to me than any ball in the world, even had the Emperor of
Japan himself been the giver of it."

"Countess Victorine," Ludwig continued, "made the most particular
inquiries as to why you didn't come. She was all anxiety, and kept
looking towards the door. I should have been really very jealous. I
should quite have thought that, for the first time in your career, you
had touched a lady's heart, if the matter had not been explained. The
fact is, I scarcely dare to tell you in what an unsparing manner the
lovely Victorine spoke of you. She even went the length of saying that
you were a cold-hearted piece of eccentricity, whose presence often
marred all enjoyment: so that she had been dreading that you would act
as her kill-joy on that evening as you so often had done before, and
was quite delighted when she found that you were not coming. To speak
candidly, my dear Euchar, I can't make out how it is t