'No, I'm not. I'm wide awake.'

'Did you enjoy it, dear?'

'Very much,' said Henrietta.

'I kept my eye on you, child,' Caroline said.

Henrietta made an effort. 'I kept my eye on you, Aunt Caroline. I saw
you flirting with Mr. Batty.'

'Impudence! Sophia, do you hear her? I only danced with him twice,
though I admit he hovered round my chair. They always did. I can't
help it. We're all like that. You should have seen your father at a
ball! There was no one like him. Such an air! Ah, here we are. I
suppose this disagreeable cabman must be tipped.'

'I'll see to that,' Rose said. It was the first time she had spoken.
'Be quick, Caroline. Don't stand in the cold.'

'The dancing has done me good,' Caroline said, and she lingered on the
pavement to look at the stars, holding her skirts high in the happy
knowledge of her unrivalled legs and feet. 'No, Sophia, I am not cold,
or tired; but yes, I'll take a little soup.'

They sat round the roaring fire prepared for them and drank the soup
out of fine old cups. Caroline chattered; she was gay; she believed
she had been a great success; young men had paid court to her; she had
rapped at least one of them with her fan; a grey-haired man had talked
to her of her lively past. But Sophia had much ado to prevent her