"Do you want to back out?" he asked. "It is n't too late, you know. Have you thought of the scandal?" "Do you wish me to back out?" she smiled. "Have you thought you may lose your position?" "I don't care--for you can consider that I have given notice to take effect to-morrow." "But that does not mean--" she began, then checked herself. He waited for her to continue, but she was silent. As they ascended the steps the orchestra was beginning the waltz, with its dreamy rhythm, which everybody had been humming for a month or two. She led the way through a door at the lower end of the room, where were the palms and shrubbery which concealed the musicians, gathered her gown in her right hand, and stood smilingly expectant. Her cheeks were deeply flushed, her eyes sparkled, her perfectly cut lips slightly parted. For an instant his eyes rested upon her face and they glowed with open admiration. Then his arm had encircled her firm, lithe waist and they whirled leisurely out upon the crowded floor. She felt his strength, but it was the strength that exalts a woman, a strength that a woman could glory in and not feel embarrassed or self-conscious; a sense of being protected, not overwhelmed, filled her. And through the rhythm of the dance and the complete sympathy which it brought, one for the other, she caught perfectly his poise--the mental suggested through the physical--strong, determined, and so utterly masculine in a big, clean way. The poetry of the waltz was well defined. The reputation of the Navy was losing nothing at his hands, or rather feet, as they glided in and out among the various couples, gracefully and easily. Both were exalted; it could not have been otherwise. Her supple body yielded instinctively to the guidance of his arm, seemed, indeed, almost a part of it--bodies and minds one in the interpretation of the science of rhythmic motion. Neither spoke until the floor had been circled. Then she turned her head and looked into his face. "To-morrow?" "Don't," said Jack, half laughing. "I don't want to think of to-morrow." "Neither do I," she grimaced, "but I can't help it. I am going to lose my driver." He smiled grimly, but did not reply. "And so," she said unconsciously allowing herself to relax in his arm, "what am I going to do?" Her glance was humorously pathetic. "It has been so much fun. But it could n't last, as Trilby said." "Some day, soon, when I have put on my uniform, may I come here and help you decide?" "Decide what, pray?" "You asked me what you were going to do." She stopped dancing and looked at him with sober face. "Well, you 'd better believe you may come here, then. You are not going to escape quite so easily. As to advice--cannot you give me that now?" "I could," replied Jack. "But I won't--not now." "Oh, do!" Her voice was teasing. "You can't imagine what straits I shall be in. Not that I would promise to pronounce it wise--" They were dancing again.