CHAPTER III.
CLARA DESMOND.
It had been Clara Desmond's first ball, and on the following morning she had much to occupy her thoughts.

In the first place, had she been pleased or had she not?
Had she been most gratified or most pained?
Girls when they ask themselves such questions seldom give themselves fair answers.

She had liked dancing with Owen Fitzgerald; oh, so much! She had liked dancing with others too, though she had not known them, and had hardly spoken to them.

The mere act of dancing, with the loud music in the room, and the gay dresses and bright lights around her, had been delightful.

But then it had pained her--she knew not why, but it had pained her--when her mother told her that people would make remarks about her.