acious."

"I have not attempted," and she colors vividly. "How could I know _you_
would offer, or that Miss Murray would accept such an objectionable
partner?" she says, archly.

"I suppose I must believe you," slowly, as if he were making an effort,
while a mirthful smile gleams in his eye. "But in the place of the
stage father, I 'bless you, my children,'" and he raises his brows,
indicating the two. "Eugene Grandon's mission in life is to be purely
ornamental; he must have been born with an incapacity for doing
anything of any real service to the world, and his manifest destiny is
to be some rich woman's husband. Now here is an opportunity too good to
lose. My advice is to go on as you have begun."

"But I have not begun," she says, a little nervously.

"Then I advise you to begin."

The band strikes up a few bars with a preliminary flourish, and the
music vibrates enchantingly on the summer night air. They take their
places.

"I shall blunder horribly," Violet insists. "You will soon be ashamed
of me."

"We will see. Of course if you are dreadful I shall scold you, and tell
your husband in the bargain. He and Mr. Murray ought to take a turn. I
have seen men waltz splendidly."

She laughs, then bethinks herself in time to save the undesired
blunder, and they float gracefully through the first figure. It is
enchanting. The sunny lustre comes back to Violet's eyes, and her
cheeks are abloom, her lips part in a half-smile. As she floats down to
where Mr. Grandon and Mr. Murray stand, her husband takes in the supple
grace, the happy young face, the half-abandon, and feels that it is the
right and the power of youth. Has he cut her off from a full
participation of its pleasures? More than once he has questioned his
kindness of a year agone.

Mr. Murray is watching his daughter with a vague satisfaction,--his
little "Polly," as he sometimes calls her, to whom his life is devoted.
All day he has talked business with Mr. Grandon, and they have gone
deep into the mysteries of trade and manufacturing. He sees himself
that the right parties could control vast interests in this matter.
When his friend George Haviland returns from Europe, a few weeks later,
a decision will be made, for he understands how troublesome the matter
is to Grandon, and how anxious he is to have his father's estate
settled. If these two young people should choose to settle another
point? He must inquire into the young man's character and habi