“Peggy, Peggy,” she chided herself reproachfully. “Thee should not have spoke about thy frock. No doubt the lad deemed it duty to say something of the kind to thee. ’Twas not seemly in thee. And how shall I answer him?”
She was saved the necessity of a reply, however, by Mr. Washington, who said:
“You are quite well acquainted with the general and his wife, Hannah tells me, Miss Peggy. If ’twould please you to see something of the estate I will take you about a little in the morning before you start. You should see something of the place while you are in these parts.”
“Oh, I should be pleased,” cried Peggy her animation returning at this. “Thee is very kind, sir.”
“The pleasure will be mine,” was the courteous reply.
And so it happened that Peggy rose betimes the next morning, but early as she deemed it Mr. Washington was awaiting her. He had a little pony saddled and bridled ready for her to mount.
“We will have time for a short look about before breakfast,” he said kindly. “’Tis my custom to ride to all the farms through the day, as the general does when he is home. ’Twould take too long for us to do that, but you can form an idea of the extent of the plantation by this détour.”
Thanking him Peggy mounted, and they set off at a brisk pace. All trace of the storm had passed save a dewy freshness of the air, and the wetness of the grass. The sun was shining with all the warmth and brightness of an April day in Virginia. The birds were twittering amid the new-born leaves, and the hyacinths and tulips were coming to their glory in the gardens. The smiles of cultivation were on every hand, and the air was heavy with the perfume of growing things after a rain.
The grounds in the immediate vicinity of the mansion were laid out in the English taste, Mr. Washington told her. The estate itself consisted of ten thousand acres which were apportioned into farms, devoted to different kinds of culture, each having its allotted laborers. Much, however, was still wild woodland, seamed with deep dells and runs of water, and indentured with inlets; haunts of deer and lurking places of foxes. The whole woody region along the Potomac with its forest and range of hills afforded sports of various kinds, and was a noble hunting ground.
The girl found that the plantation was a little empire in itself. The mansion house was the seat of government, with dependencies, such as kitchens, smoke-houses, work-shops and stables. There were numerous house servants for domestic service, and a host of field negroes for the culture of the crops. Their quarters formed a kind of hamlet apart, composed of various huts with little gardens and poultry yards, all well stocked, and swarming with little darkies gamboling in the sunshine.