t have seen me ere this, and to have
taken no notice--"

A little pang of chagrin accompanied this reflection.

I flung myself upon a seat, and endeavoured to assume an air of
indifference, though I was far from feeling indifferent, and my eyes as
before kept eagerly scanning the fair masters. Now and then, the
_tournure_ of an ankle--I had seen Isolina's--or the elliptical sweep of
a fine figure, inspired me with fresh hope: but as the mascaritas who
owned them were near enough to have seen, and yet took no notice of me,
I conjectured--in fact, _hoped_--that none of them was she. Indeed, a
well-turned ankle is no distinctive mark among the fair _doncellas_ of
Mexico.

At length, a pair of unusually neat ones, supporting a figure of such
superb outlines, that even the ungraceful domino could not conceal them,
came under my eyes, and riveted my attention. My heart beat wildly as I
gazed. I could not help the belief that the lady in the yellow domino
was Isolina de Vargas.

She was waltzing with a young dragoon officer; and as they passed me I
rose from my seat, and approached the orbit of the dance, in order to
keep them under my eyes.

As they passed me a second time, I fancied the lady regarded me through
her mask: I fancied I saw her start. I was almost sure it was Isolina!

My feeling was now that of jealousy. The young officer was one of the
elegant gentlemen of the service--a professed lady killer--a fellow,
who, notwithstanding his well-known deficiency of brains, was ever
welcome among women. She seemed to press closely to him as they whirled
around, while her head rested languishingly upon his shoulder. She
appeared to be _contented_ with her partner. I could scarcely endure
the agony of my fancies. It was a relief to me when the music ceased
and the waltz ended.

The circle broke up, and the waltzers scattered in different directions,
but my eyes followed only the dragoon officer and his partner. He
conducted her to a seat, and then placing himself by her side, the two
appeared to engage in an earnest and interesting conversation.

With me politeness was now out of the question. I had grown as jealous
as a tiger; and I drew near enough become a listener. The lowness of
the tone in which conversed precluded the possibility of my hearing much
of what was said, but I could make out that the spark was "coaxing" his
partner to remove her mask. The voice that replied was surely
Isolina's!

I