"It's only a Cinderella affair," pleaded Dinah. "To-morrow's Sunday, you
know. There'll be no dancing to-morrow."
"And a good thing too," he commented. "A pity Sunday doesn't come
oftener! What will Lady Grace say I wonder?"
"But Rose is sure to dance," urged Dinah.
"I'm not so sure of that, Sir Eustace Studley has been teaching her to
ski all the afternoon, and if she isn't tired, she ought to be."
"Oh, lucky Rose!" Dinah knew an instant's envy. "But I expect she'll
dance all the same. And--and--I may dance with him--just once, mayn't I?
There couldn't be any harm in just one dance. No one would notice that,
would they?"
She pressed close to the Colonel with her petition, and he found it hard
to refuse. She made it with so childlike an earnestness, and--all his
pomposity notwithstanding--he had a soft heart for children.
"There, be off with you!" he said. "Yes, you may give him one dance if he
asks for it. But only one, mind! That's a bargain, is it?"
Dinah beamed radiant acquiescence. "I'll save all the rest for you.
You're a dear to let me, and I'll be ever so good. Good-bye!"
She went, flitting like a butterfly up the stairs, and the Colonel smiled
in spite of himself as he watched her go. "Little witch!" he muttered. "I
wonder what your mother would say to you if she knew."
Dinah raced breathless to her room, and began a fevered toilet.
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