"A very unpleasant surprise," commented Myra coldly. "After what
happened an hour or two ago, I should have begged to be excused from
this party if I had known you would be present."
"Alas! señorita, it is sad to find you still rebelling against
destiny," said Don Carlos. "Yet I am flattered, for your desire to
avoid me does but prove you are afraid of losing your heart to me, and
you know that only by avoiding me can you delay the day of surrender."
"Sure, señor, if conceit were a disease you would have died of it long
since," retorted Myra, and turned to talk to the man on her other side.
She ignored Don Carlos completely for some time, but she found herself
listening to his deep, musical voice as he chatted to his hostess and
modestly acknowledged compliments fired at him across the table by a
polo enthusiast. When common politeness at last compelled her to turn
to speak to him again, it was to find his eyes still twinkling
mischievously.
"A thousand thanks, señorita, for giving me the opportunity of admiring
your beautiful back for so long," he said in a low voice. "It is
flawless. Your skin is smooth as polished marble, yet soft and sweet
as the petals of a rose."
"Your compliments are becoming tedious, señor," Myra remarked, assuming
an air of boredom. "Am I expected to endure this kind of talk all
evening?"
"All the days of your life, I hope, señorita," Don Carlos answered
calmly. "In the intervals of making love to you, Myra, I shall sing
the praises of your beauty even after you are all mine."
"Don Carlos, you are quite impossible!" exclaimed Myra. "I warn you
again I shall take precautions to avoid you in future if you persist in
this folly."
"That will necessitate your cancelling all your engagements, or nearly
all of them, for the rest of the season," responded Don Carlos.
"Already I have contrived to obtain an invitation to practically every
function at which you are likely to be present. Your aunt was good
enough to show me your engagement book this afternoon. Dear lady, I
assure you that you will find it difficult to avoid me."
Myra fancied he was boasting again, but he was stating facts, as she
subsequently discovered. At practically every Society function she
attended during the next few weeks, save for a few private parties, Don
Carlos de Ruiz was a fellow guest, and invariably he contrived to talk
to her and make love, even when Tony Standish was also present, and
ignored the snubs and rebuffs she administered.