"You mean the British?"
"Of course they did not make so free with everybody in the city, with only a few, you know. It was for General Howe himself that Margaret first made bold enough to sing."
"She does very well, I am sure," was the reply.
The little group again lapsed into silence as Peggy responded with an encore, this selection being a patriotic air of a lighter vein. The Major again lapsed into an easy attitude, but Mrs. Shippen was visibly intent upon every motion of the singer and followed her every syllable.
"How much does music contribute to one's pleasure!" she remarked when the conversation began to stir.
"It is charming," Mr. Anderson observed.
"And do you know that we inherited that clavichord? It is one of the oldest in the country."
"It appears to be of rare design," remarked Mr. Anderson, as his eyes pierced the distance in a steady observance of it.
"It belonged to Mr. Shippen's father," she boasted. "This house, you know, was the home of Edward Shippen, who was Mayor of the city over an hundred years ago. It was then, if I do say it, the most pretentious home in the city. My husband was for disposing of it and removing to less fashionable quarters, but I would not hear of it. Never!"
Major Franks surveyed the great room deliberately.