He knew that I cared for no one of them; for nothing;
not even for my beauty, except that--thank God!--it pleasured him.
I knew that perfect beauty had come to me last night--had come because I
loved and was loved; and because Love was not the pale shadow I had called
by its name, but a rapture that was in my heart and in my face and in the
faces 'round me and in the music that swelled from the great ballroom!
I had no idea of time, but perhaps it wasn't long before the General
manoeuvred me from the sitting-out rooms and across the hall to join the
dancers. Mrs. Baker and John were with us; Ned was not, but I knew that he
would follow.
It was a big apartment that we entered, occupying the entire end of the
second floor towards the street, perhaps thirty feet by forty and twenty
high; for an instant I was dazzled by the gleam of white and gold, the
rise of pilasters at door and window, the shimmer of soft, bright hangings
and everywhere the cheat of mirrors. I breathed delight at sight of the
lovely ceiling all luminous--no lights showed anywhere, yet the air was
transfused by a rosy glow. The next minute I had forgotten this in the
pulse of the music and the blur of moving figures; my favourite waltz was
sounding, and the scene was one of fairyland.
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