She put her hand on his arm, and he found himself to his amazement dancing with his sister-in-law and enjoying it. He had not danced for years, not since the night when he danced in that same room with his fiancee, who, at the finish of the evening, had asked him to release her from her engagement. The memory of that humiliating experience was with him when, at the finish of the dance, he found his way back to the quiet corner near the doorway, from whence he watched Prudence come and go with her different partners, always animated and gay and tireless in her enjoyment. What, he wondered, would his life have been like, and hers, had he not turned a deaf ear to her request? He hated to see her enjoying herself thus independently of him; and he was powerless to interfere. She would have accused him justly of jealousy of her youth. He was jealous of her youth; he was still more jealous of the youth of the men who surrounded her. A late arrival, entering unobtrusively while the dancing was in full swing, seeing Mr Morgan standing disconsolately in the doorway, came to a halt beside him, and noting the heavy boredom of his look, was moved to address him, though he had no particular liking for the man he accosted, and was not sure how his advances would be received. "Something of a crush inside, sir," he observed. "There doesn't appear to be any room for me." Mr Morgan turned his head and surveyed the speaker. A light of surprised recognition flashed into his sombre eyes, and, after a slight show of hesitation, he held out his hand. "Steele!" he exclaimed. "The last man I expected to see. Where do you spring from?" Steele laughed quietly. "The war brought me back," he said. "I arrived two days ago, and of course came home. Mrs Henry met me yesterday outside the bank--and so I'm here. She told me she was short of men. The shortage isn't apparent." He stared into the densely packed room and smiled. "One can't imagine Mrs Henry short of anything. It looks ripping." "Beastly crush!" Edward Morgan muttered. "I hate this sort of thing." The smile in the young man's eyes deepened, but the rest of his face was grave. He was wondering why Mr Morgan put himself to the inconvenience of attending an entertainment against his inclination. "It doesn't look as though my chance of securing partners was rosy," he remarked. "I'm horribly late."