ous tuning,
the doors of the dressing-rooms opened, and the ball-room began to fill.

The common opinion of Cacouna had undoubtedly been that Mr. Percy--the
Honourable Edward Percy, whose name was in the Peerage--would dance the
first quadrille with Mrs. Bellairs. But sovereigns are permitted to be
capricious, especially female ones, and the Queen of Cacouna was not
above the weaknesses of her class. Perhaps Mr. Percy--who was certainly
bored himself--bored her a little. At any rate she signified her
intention of bestowing her hand upon an elderly gentleman, the owner of
the house, to whom, as she said, they were so much indebted for his
kindness in allowing them to metamorphose it as they had done.

The gentleman, thus left at liberty to choose his own partner, found his
eyes turning naturally to Lucia; but before he had quite made up his
mind, Maurice came up to her.

"Lucia," he said, "I shall be obliged to give up my quadrille. It is a
great nuisance; but keep the next for me, will you not?"

She nodded and smiled, and he hurried off.

Mr. Percy still stood undecided. His cousin touched him on the shoulder,
"Are not you going to dance?" he asked.

"I suppose so," with the slightest possible shrug. "Miss Costello, if
you are disengaged, will you dance this quadrille with me?"

Lucia turned when he spoke. The same deep crimson flush came to her face
as when their eyes had first met that morning. She felt angry with him
for asking her, and with Maurice for having left her free. She longed to
say to him some of the civil impertinences women can use to men they
dislike, but she was too great a novice, and found no better expedient
than to accept the invitation as coolly as it was given. Probably,
however, Mr. Percy attributed her blush to a cause very different from
its real one; or else there was something soothing and agreeable in
finding himself in possession of incomparably the prettiest partner in
the room, for he began almost immediately to feel less bored, and
positively roused himself to the extent of making some exertion to
please his reluctant companion.

Now, it was all very well for Lucia to be cross, and to nurse her
crossness to the last possible minute, but a girl of sixteen, however
pretty and however spoiled, is not generally gifted with sufficient
strength of mind or badness of temper, to remain quite insensible to the
good qualities of a handsome man, who evidently wishes to make himself
agree