Ariel was careful not to glance towards them, but she could not help hating them.Once or twice between the dances she saw Miss Pike speak appealingly to one of the superfluous, glancing, at the same time, in her own direction, and Ariel could see, too, that the appeal proved unsuccessful, until at last Mamie approached her, leading Norbert Flitcroft, partly by the hand, partly by will-power.
Norbert was an excessively fat boy, and at the present moment looked as patient as the blind.
But he asked Ariel if she was "engaged for the next dance," and, Mamie having flitted away, stood disconsolately beside her, waiting for the music to begin.Ariel was grateful for him"I think you must be very good-natured, Mr.
Flitcroft," she said, with an air of raillery"No, I'm not," he replied, plaintively."Everybody thinks I am because I'm fat, and they expect me to do things they never dream of asking anybody else to do.I'd like to see 'em even ASK'Gene Bantry to go and do some of the things they get me to do! A person isn't good-natured just because he's fat," he concluded, morbidly, "but he might as well be!""Oh, I meant good-natured," she returned, with a sprightly laugh, "because you're willing to waltz with me.""Oh, well," he returned, sighing, "that's all right."The orchestra flourished into "La Paloma"; he put his arm mournfully about her, and taking her right hand with his left, carried her arm out to a rigid right angle, beginning to pump and balance for time.They made three false starts and then got away.Ariel danced badly; she hopped and lost the step, but they persevered, bumping against other couples continually.Circling breathlessly into the next room, they passed close to a long mirror, in which Ariel saw herself, although in a flash, more bitterly contrasted to the others than in the cheval-glass of the dressing-room.The clump of roses was flopping about her neck, her crimped hair looked frowzy, and there was something terribly wrong about her dress.Suddenly she felt her train to be ominously grotesque, as a thing following her in a nightmare.