"Dorice," I stammered brokenly, "I--I've come."
Dorice excused herself from her partner and took me into a corner.
"Hear me first," I pleaded, utterly crushed. "Hear me first, Dorice.
I've done my best. I went to the wrong place. You rang off without
giving me the proper address. A blundering villain of a cabman took me
to--Naughton Hall. They made me dance with somebody named Giggleswick. I
escaped as soon as I could and came here. I ran a lot of the way."