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Towards eleven o'clock, the red-coated orchestra began to play a waltz,
and then the whole variegated company of ladies, soldiers, and diplomats
stood up to dance, and the colonel asked me to join him.
I was ashamed to tell him that I had never danced except with a
schoolgirl, so I took his hand and started. But hardly had we begun,
when I made mistakes, which I thought everybody saw (I am sure Alma saw
them), and before we had taken many turns my partner had to stop,
whereupon I retired to my seat with a forced laugh and a sense of
confusion.
It was nearly twelve when they began the Cotillon, which Alma and my
husband led with supreme self-possession. As one of the hostesses I sat
in the front row of the square, and when I was taken out I made further
mistakes, which also Alma saw and communicated by smiles to my husband.
Before the Cotillon came to an end the night was far spent and then the
company, which had become very boisterous, began to look for some new
excitement, no matter how foolish.


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