I must admit, though, that all the pleasure I derived from it was when
I heard the smothered giggles of those who saw us. The colonel was in
a domino and had not tried to disguise himself.
We went in to supper together, and I managed to be almost the last one
to unmask, and all the time Colonel Fitz-James, domino removed, was
standing in front of me, and looking down with a smile of serene
expectancy. The colonel of a regiment is a person of prominence,
therefore many people in the room were watching us, not one
suspecting, however, who I was. So when I did take off the mask there
was a shout: "Why, it is Mrs. Rae," and "Oh, look at Mrs. Rae," and
several friends came up to us. Well, I wish you could have seen the
colonel's face--the mingled surprise and almost horror that was
expressed upon it. Of course the vain man had placed himself in a
ridiculous position, chasing around and flirting with the wife of one
of his very own officers--a second lieutenant at that! It came out
later that he, and others also, had thought that I was a Helena girl
whom the colonel admires very much. It was rather embarrassing, too,
to be told that the girl was sitting directly opposite on the other
side of the room, where she was watching us with two big, black eyes.
And then farther down I saw Faye also looking at us--but then, a man
never can see things from a woman's view point.
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