Of course he
would be her partner! He entered into the arrangements with a zest,
though he let her do all the planning, and heeded little what character
she had chosen for him, or what costume, so she was pleased. Indeed, his
part in the matter seemed of little moment so he might go with her--his
sweet, shy, lovely maiden! For so she seemed to him that night! A
perfect Solveig!
The reason for the little slippers became apparent later, when she
insisted upon teaching him the dancing-steps that were to be used in a
final splendid assembly after the pageant. There was intoxication in the
delight of moving with her through the dreamy steps to the music of the
expensive Victrola she set going. Just to watch her little feet like
fairies for lightness and grace; to touch her small, warm hand; to be so
near those down-drooping lashes; to feel her breath on his hand; to
think of her as trusting her lovely little self to him--made him almost
deliriously happy. And she, with her drooping lashes, her delicate way
of barely touching his arm, her utter seeming unconsciousness of his
presence, was so exquisite and pure and lovely to-night! She did not
dream, of course, of how she made his pulses thrill and how he was
longing to gather her into his arms and tell her how lovely she was.
Afterward he was never quite sure what kept him from doing it. He
thought at the time it was herself, a sort of wall of purity and
loveliness that surrounded her and made her sacred, so that he felt he
must go slowly, must not startle her nor make her afraid of him.
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