Leila, the young protagonist of “Her First Ball,” is thrilled though extremely self-conscious at the prospect of attending her first formal ball. Every detail, from the shared cab that takes her there to the coach bolster, which feels like the sleeve of an escort’s dress suit, contributes to her pleasure. Not even the Sheridan girls, amazed that she has never been to a ball before, can dampen her enthusiasm. She does feel less sophisticated than her companions; after all, she has been reared in the country, fifteen miles from the nearest neighbor, and her friends have had such evenings before.
She admires the easy gallantry of her cousin Laurie when he arranges, as usual, to have the third and ninth dances with his sister Laura. Though sad almost to the point of tears that she herself does not have a brother to make such casual agreements with her (“no brother had ever said ’Twig?’ to her”), the whole experience is so overwhelming that Leila seems almost lifted past the big golden lantern, and the couples seem to float through the air: Their “little satin shoes chased each other like birds.”
Leila acts with instinctive grace and is courteous even to the boorish fat man who presumptuously compares his program with hers to schedule a dance. The fat man asks himself aloud whether he remembers Leila’s “bright little face,” whether he had known it “of yore,” but his condescension does not faze her. She dances beautifully, even though she learned to...
Leila, the young protagonist of “Her First Ball,” is thrilled though extremely self-conscious at the prospect of attending her first formal ball. Every detail, from the shared cab that takes her there to the coach bolster, which feels like the sleeve of an escort’s dress suit, contributes to her pleasure. Not even the Sheridan girls, amazed that she has never been to a ball before, can dampen her enthusiasm. She does feel less sophisticated than her companions; after all, she has been reared in the country, fifteen miles from the nearest neighbor, and her friends have had such evenings before.She admires the easy gallantry of her cousin Laurie when he arranges, as usual, to have the third and ninth dances with his sister Laura. Though sad almost to the point of tears that she herself does not have a brother to make such casual agreements with her (“no brother had ever said ’Twig?’ to her”), the whole experience is so overwhelming that Leila seems almost lifted past the big golden lantern, and the couples seem to float through the air: Their “little satin shoes chased each other like birds.”Leila acts with instinctive grace and is courteous even to the boorish fat man who presumptuously compares his program with hers to schedule a dance. The fat man asks himself aloud whether he remembers Leila’s “bright little face,” whether he had known it “of yore,” but his condescension does not faze her. She dances beautifully, even though she learned to...
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