ely made his request of a lady for
a dance. If it was granted, all was well. If it was not granted, then a
polite bow--and all was not well.

I had been much attracted by a very sweet and charming actress. She
appeared to me as the impersonation of all that was lovely. Her
complexion was fair, and her hair golden--a head that Murillo would have
loved to paint. She was rather petite, but, oh dear me, what a figure!
What ankles! What sweetly moulded neck and arms! What delicately coloured
flesh! Are you surprised that she looked all lovable? She had a
companion, differing in type, but with equally as many charms of her own.
One of my friends seemed to be much taken with her, and we at once
decided to try our fortune and beg of them to honour us by accepting us
as partners for the opening dance. As soon as the signal was given we did
so, and, to our great joy, we obtained their permission. No two young men
were happier than we were, for one dance followed another till supper was
ready. Of course, the fact had quite escaped my mind that, in France and
Spain, it is not usual for engaged men to dance with other ladies than
their _fiancee_--and certainly _outre_ for them to make themselves
conspicuous by paying too much attention to any ladies, especially at
such public functions. Still I continued to enjoy myself. My friend was
equally successful with his partner.

Before going to supper Louise (my charming companion's name) told me that
she had another ball to attend that night, and that, as it was then about
2 a.m., she and her friend Estelle would take a light supper and leave
immediately afterwards. Their will was, of course, law to us. We sent out
a message by our footman for our carriage to be ready at the exit gateway
in half an hour, and our _partie carree_ continued to enjoy itself. While
at supper my cousin came to our table. We introduced him to Louise and
Estelle. He joined us in a glass of champagne, and, as he left us, he
said to me in Spanish, "Ten cuidado; tomas demasiados riesgos."[2] But,
what think you? Did I care? No. I did not even realize that he was
alluding to my engagement. I just thought that he had noticed that we
four had passed the whole evening together, and that possibly we might be
opening a friendship that might result in a liaison which might not be so
judicious. We wished him good night and he passed on.

After supper we hurried to our carriage and drove to Louise's apartments,
which were