Her eyes gleamed almost pleadingly
for all her hauteur, like a spirited collie's, and her even teeth showed
beautifully.
Cowperwood understood her precisely, as he did any fine, spirited
animal.
"I can't tell you how nice you look," he whispered to her, familiarly,
as though there was an old understanding between them. "You're like fire
and song."
He did not know why he said this. He was not especially poetic. He had
not formulated the phrase beforehand. Since his first glimpse of her
in the hall, his feelings and ideas had been leaping and plunging like
spirited horses. This girl made him set his teeth and narrow his eyes.
Involuntarily he squared his jaw, looking more defiant, forceful,
efficient, as she drew near.
But Aileen and her sister were almost instantly surrounded by young men
seeking to be introduced and to write their names on dance-cards, and
for the time being she was lost to view.
Chapter XVIII
The seeds of change--subtle, metaphysical--are rooted deeply. From the
first mention of the dance by Mrs. Cowperwood and Anna, Aileen had been
conscious of a desire toward a more effective presentation of herself
than as yet, for all her father's money, she had been able to achieve.
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