"Will you favor me with this waltz, señorita doña?" "It is yours, Captain Morando." In a moment they were one of a hundred couples on the floor. The girl's eyes sparkled and the color rose higher in her cheeks. "A wonderful night this has been!" Morando exclaimed to his partner in the waltz. "What a pity it must end so soon!" "You are, then, enjoying the baile? No? It will delight my father, I know, to hear that." "Señorita Doña, may I have a few moments with you when this dance is over?" "Certainly." In a little while they were seated in the quiet of a reception room. "Señorita Carmelita, I told you earlier in the evening that I love you, and I asked your love in return. Again I tell you I love you. O, doña mia! Doña mia! Will you not accept my love?" She looked at him and moved away slightly. "O, Doña Carmelita, will you not answer me?" "The Capitan Morando is insistent." "My heart urges me, señorita doña, my heart filled with love for you." "The Capitan's love hangs on slender thread." "You, doña mia, can make that thread strong." "I do not choose thus to occupy myself." "O, heart of my heart, accept my love and I will give my whole life to you." "It is quite time for this interview to end. Señor Capitan, will you escort me back to the company?" "Señorita Carmelita, why do you speak in this way? Have I offended you?" "Possibly you have other questions to ask." "Only one other question concerns me, señorita mia. Answer me that, I implore of you. Say that you will accept my love." He stood before her. Involuntarily his hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, as it had done when shortly before he had been speaking to Señora Valentino. The girl arose quickly. "Good evening, Captain Morando," she said and left the room. Undecided, he looked after her. A hand was laid on his shoulder. "Señor Captain, we meet after El Son in the card room. Come into the open with us, and we will explain." It was Valencia who spoke. "Yes, come with us. We have been looking everywhere for you," joined in Hernandez. "I am at your service, señors." The music for El Son, low and sobbing, came floating through the flower-scented air. This dance, of Spanish, or, perhaps, of Moorish origin, had elaborated itself in the new world, personifying in poetry of motion the joyous spirit of the province. It belonged to the master of the house to select the dancer who, if she chose, might add to the usual figures inventions of her own. Carmelita appeared at the entrance of the ballroom. Serving maids and Indian messenger boys were around her in numbers. She dispatched them, one by one, to bring in all the guests. They came from everywhere. The older men were in small groups, talking earnestly, and often gesticulating vehemently. The young men were mostly with their sweethearts and the dueñas. With Señora Valentino were Valencia, Hernandez, Abelardo Peralta, Patricio Martinez, and a half dozen others, including Morando.