"My dear Dolly, I am not objecting, but what will the world say about a privateer being married from the executive mansion?"
"That the President of the United States dares to do right, even though the world might frown," answered his wife earnestly.
"My dear, you shall do as you please."
Then the sweet woman made a curtsey, and answered with a pretty little pout:
"I know that, James, even though you are President of the Republic."
The evening passed pleasantly, and the guests departed long before midnight, happy in their patriotic love.
In those days night was not turned into day; the revels ended at an early hour, for all believed in the good old idea that an hour's beauty sleep before midnight was worth two afterward.
On the following day John Tempest introduced his wife to the White House circle, and Dorothea Madison at once fell in love with Bertha.
The wedding was conducted on a splendid scale; no expense was spared, for Tempest was considered a naval hero, and no one dared to even speak slightingly of the privateer.