Perhaps, on the whole, it was easier to bear than an evening spent in solitude would have been.

She knew that she would be too utterly weary to lie awake when bedtime came at last.

And the night would be so short--ah, so short! And so she danced and laughed with the gayest of the merrymakers, and when it was over at last even the severest of her critics had to admit that her triumph was complete.

She had borne herself like a queen at a banquet of rejoicing, and like a queen she finally quitted the festive scene in a 'rickshaw drawn by a team of giddy subalterns, scattering her careless favours upon all who cared to compete for them.
As she had foreseen, Dacre accompanied the procession.

He had no mind to be cheated of his rights, and it was he who finally dispersed the irresponsible throng at the steps of the verandah, handing her up them with a royal air and drawing her away from the laughter and cheering that followed her.
With her hand pressed lightly against his side, he led her away to the darkest corner, and there he pushed back the soft wrap from her shoulders and gathered her into his arms.
She stood almost stiffly in his embrace, neither yielding nor attempting to avoid.