Seen thus Lucy was handsome, a tall, long-limbed sapling of a girl,
with a flaming crest of copper-colored hair and movements as lithe and
supple as a cat's. She danced buoyantly, without losing breath,
advancing and retreating with mincing steps, her face grave as though
the performance had its own dignity and was not to be taken lightly.
Her partner, a tanned and long-haired man, took his part in a livelier
spirit, laughing at her, bending his body grotesquely and growing red
with his caperings. Meanwhile from the tent door the wife looked on
and Susan heard her say to the doctor with whom she had been conferring:
"And when will it be my turn to dance the reel again? There wasn't a
girl in the town could dance it with me."
Her voice was weighted with the wistfulness of the woman whose endless
patience battles with her unwillingness to be laid by.
Susan saw David's fingers feeling in the grass for her hand. She gave
it, felt the hard stress of his grip, and conquered her desire to draw
the hand away. All her coquetry was gone. She was cold and subdued.
The passionate hunger of his gaze made her feel uncomfortable.
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