That she had trained the carry-castle to dance with her—sthenia allowing hands to hold up front feet for receiving leads and turns—knocked socks off even those hoity-toity guests usually immune to impression by fanciful feats.

The epilogue clarifies, though, that the dancing elephant did, one day, knock partner off her feet during an over-hand turn. And, with no one able to fill terpsichorean’s shoes whilst she recovered in the hospital, Ellie was left to get her kicks all alone. ; )