"Patty would have been glad enough."
"But you were full of pleasure! Perhaps we seemed dull to you? We are rather quiet folk."
He uttered the pronoun quite decisively, so much so that it brought the color to her cheek.
"Oh, no, it was not dull! I enjoyed it extremely."
"And if you stay for the ball will you not come over again? Mother liked you both so much. You will find it delightful at the Dearborns'. And I shall claim some dances."
"You will hardly be crowded out, in that happy event," she returned brightly.
Then there were some other introductions to noted people. Colonel Monroe was standing by, and shared them. Mrs. Madison came presently, leaning on Mr. Clinton's arm.
"I hope you have had a pleasant time," the lady said graciously; "and that we shall see you frequently. I am very fond of young people."
"I felt as if I ought to kiss her hand," Jaqueline whispered, with a scarlet face, to her companion. "That is the obeisance people are expected to pay to a queen."
"Not in a republic. And every lady is a queen to a man at some period of her life."