Marley could not bear their joy, any more than he could bear the joy of the dancers, and he looked away from them. Glancing along the wall he saw a girl, sitting alone. It was Grace Winters; she was older than the others, and she sat there sullenly, her dark brows contracted under her dark hair. Marley felt drawn toward her by a common trouble, and he thought, instantly, that he might appear less conspicuous if he went and sat beside her. As he approached, her sallow face brightened with a brilliant smile of welcome and she drew aside her skirts to make a place for him, though there was no one else on all that side of the room. Marley sat down. "It's warm, isn't it?" he said. "Yes," Miss Winters replied, "almost too warm to dance, don't you think?" Marley tried to express his acquiescence in the polite smile he had seen the other men use before the dance began, but he did not feel that he carried it off very well. "I should think you'd be dancing, Mr. Marley," Miss Winters said. "I hear you are a splendid dancer. Don't you care to dance this evening?" "I can't dance," said Marley, crudely. He was looking at Lavinia, following her young figure as it glided past with Lawrence. Miss Winters turned away. Her face became gloomy again, and she said nothing more. Marley was absorbed in Lavinia, and they sat there together silent, conspicuous and alone, in a wide separation. Marley thought the dance never would end. It seemed to him that the dancers must drop from fatigue; but at last the mandolin and guitar ceased suddenly, the girls cried out a disappointed unisonant "Oh!" and then they all laughed and clapped their hands. Lavinia and Lawrence were coming up, glowing with the joy of the dance. "Oh, that was splendid, Jack!" Lavinia cried, putting back her hair with that wave of her hand. Lawrence's face was redder than ever. He leaned over and in a whisper that was for Lavinia and Marley together he said: "Lavinia, you're the queen dancer of the town." And then he turned to Miss Winters. "Grace," he said, distributing himself with the impartiality he felt his position as a social leader demanded, "you've promised me a dance for a long time. Now's my chance." "Why certainly, Jack," Miss Winters said, with her brilliant smile, and then she took Lawrence's arm and drew him away, as if otherwise he might escape. "Take me outdoors!" said Lavinia to Marley. "Those big lamps make it _so_ hot in here." Marley was glad to leave, and they went out on to the little piazza of the pavilion. Lavinia stood on the very edge of the steps, and drank in the fresh air eagerly. "Oh!" she said. "Oh! Isn't it delicious!" The darkness lay thick between the trees. The air was rich with the scent of the mown fields that lay beyond the grove. The insects shrilled contentedly. Marley stood and looked at Lavinia, standing on the edge of the steps, her body bent a little forward, her face upturned. She put back her hair again.