A Son of Ishmael by L.T. Meade — Read

Jacob Short returned the next day to Rowton Heights, and almost immediately afterwards the excitement and confusion incident to the great ball began. Many fresh servants were engaged for the occasion; a string band from London was secured; in short, no expense was spared to make the occasion a worthy one, and to render the ball as brilliant as possible. The old ball-room was too magnificent in itself to require much decoration. The carved oak, which covered it from ceiling to floor, was re-polished, but the windows were not draped, Nature's draping of ivy and old creepers being considered far more effective than anything man could devise. The ball-room, which was over one hundred feet in length and thirty feet in breadth, was one of the most celebrated rooms in the whole county. In the old days, brave knights and fair ladies had held high revelry here. It was well known also that more than one personage celebrated in the history of England had figured in the giddy mazes of the dance in the old room. For years it had been shut up, as misfortune and even poverty had come to the noble old family who for so many generations had reigned at Rowton Heights. The occasion, therefore, of its being re-opened was considered a truly auspicious one, and certainly Rowton and his wife could not have discovered a more popular way of entertaining the county than by allowing them to dance once more in the oak ball-room. It had been long years now since Rowton Heights had so resounded to mirth and merry-making.

For days before the ball the house was full of eager and expectant guests. Smart young men from town and the prettiest girls of the neighbourhood gladly accepted invitations to stay at the Heights. The host and hostess were seen on this occasion at their very best. Nance, under her husband's protecting wing, lost much of her inborn shyness. Her gentle beauty, her sweet low voice, her affectionate and sympathetic manner, could not fail to make her a universal favourite. As to Rowton, he was, as Lady Georgina Strong expressed it, every inch a man of the world, and, she was wont to add, fascinating at that.