Her brother had left four children, and she made these her care for the rest of her life. She brought them up and educated them.
The china that had been General Wayne’s last gift to her, was never used, but was kept by her as her most precious treasure.
She saw almost no one at “The Willows,” but the few who were allowed to visit her, found her always in black, and with her beautiful hair hidden under a widow’s cap. But she was still, even in old age, as gracious, as witty and charming as when she had been the wealthy and courted Belle of Delaware.[5]
NOTES
[1] Quoted from Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra.”
[2] It seemed strange that the hero of Stony Point should have been a vain man; but he was said to be vain both for himself and his regiment. At the beginning of the war he told his regiment that there would be a barber in each company to shave the soldiers and dress their hair; (their hair was to be plaited and powdered) and that any man who came on parade with a long beard, carelessly dressed, or dirty, was to be punished. He told General Washington he would rather lead his men into action well dressed and with only one round of cartridges, than with all the ammunition that they needed and yet ragged and dirty.
[3] This was no vain threat. During the attack one unfortunate soldier stepped out of the ranks to load his musket, and the officer in charge immediately ran him through with his bayonet.
[4] One of Wayne’s friends wrote that the only drawback to the attack was that the General would probably lose his hearing;—he would be deafened by his own praises.