[Sidenote:  Forgiveness]

Then Octavia went out of the other door, and I don’t know where Tom went, but we were alone, and so he said, would I forgive him for everything and be friends, that he had never been so sorry for anything in his life as having offended me.  He really seemed so penitent, and he does dance so beautifully, and he is so tall and nice in his pink coat; and, besides, I remembered his dinner with Aunt Maria, and how nasty I had been to him at Hazeldene!  So I said, all right I would try, if he would promise never to be horrid again; and he said he wouldn’t; and then we shook hands, and he said I looked lovely, and that my frock was perfect; and then Tom came back and we went into the hall, and everybody was down, and they had drawn for partners to go in to dinner while we were in the ballroom.  Tom had made Octavia arrange that we should draw, as he said he could not stand Lady Greswold two nights running.  Octavia said she had drawn for Lord Valmond because he wasn’t there, and that his slip of paper was me, and he said on our way into the dining-room that Octavia was a brick.  We had such fun at dinner.  Now that I have forgiven him, and have not to be thinking all the time of how nasty I can be, we get on splendidly.

[Sidenote:  The Ball]

Mr. Wertz was at the other side of me with Mrs. Pike; but as he isn’t “running” them he had not to bother to talk to her, and he is really very intelligent, and we three had such an amusing time.  Lord Valmond was in a lovely temper.  Jane Roose said afterwards in the drawing-room that it was because Mrs. Smith was coming with the Courceys to the ball.  Lady Doraine had drawn Mr. Pike, who is melancholy-looking, with a long Jew nose; but she woke him up and got him quite animated by dessert, and Mrs. Pike did not like it one bit.  I overheard her speaking to him about it afterwards, and he said so roughly, “You mind your own climbing, Mary; you ought to be glad as it’s a titled lady!” Well, then, by the time we were all assembled in the hall, every one began to arrive.  Oh, it was so, so lovely!  Every one looked at me as I stood beside Octavia at first, because they all knew the ball was given for me, and then for the first dance I danced with Tom, and after that I had heaps of partners, and I can’t tell you about each dance, but it was all heavenly.  I tried to remember what you said and not dance more than three times with the same person, but, somehow, Lord Valmond got four, and another—­but that was an extra.

Mrs. Smith did come with the Courceys, and she was looking so smart with a beautiful gown on, and Jane Roose said it was a mercy Valmond was so rich; but I don’t see what that had to do with it.  I saw him dancing with her once, but he looked as cross as two sticks, perhaps because she was rather late.  Do you know, Mamma, a lot of the beauties we are always reading about in the papers as having walked in the Park looking perfectly lovely were there,