Annixter shut his teeth, the perspiration starting from his forehead.

For five years he had abandoned dancing.

Never in his best days had it been one of his accomplishments.
They hesitated a moment, waiting to catch the time from the musicians.
Another couple bore down upon them at precisely the wrong moment, jostling them out of step.

Annixter swore under his breath.

His arm still about the young woman, he pulled her over to one corner.
"Now," he muttered, "we'll try again." A second time, listening to the one-two-three, one-two-three cadence of the musicians, they endeavoured to get under way.