'
He hopped off gaily, and they soon saw him steering the maypole
round the room, or rather, the maypole steered Felix, for her idea
of the dance was to let Felix skip gaily round her; then she lifted
him up and put him down a few feet further on, when he again
skipped, and so the performance went on, to the intense amusement of
Kitty and Gaston.
'My faith!' said Vandeloup, satirically, dropping into a seat beside
Kitty, 'she is a maypole, and he's a merry peasant dancing round it.
By the way, Bebe, why isn't Madame here to-night?'
'She's not well,' replied Kitty, unfurling her fan; 'I don't know
what's come over her, she's so nervous.'
'Oh! indeed,' said Vandeloup, politely; 'Hum!--still afraid of her
husband turning up,' he said to himself, as Kitty was carried away
for a valse by Mr Bellthorp; 'how slow all this is?' he went on,
yawning, and rising from his seat; 'I shan't stay long, or that old
woman will be seizing me again. Poor Kestrike, surely his sin has
been punished enough in having such a wife,' and M. Vandeloup
strolled away to speak to Mrs Riller, who, being bereft of
Bellthorp, was making signals to him with her fan.
Barty Jarper had been hard at work all night on the poodle-dog
system, and had danced with girls who could not dance, and talked
with girls that could not talk, so, as a reward for his work, he
promised himself a dance with Kitty.
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