A VIRGINIA CAVALIER.[2]
BY MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL.
CHAPTER XVI.
Christmas at Mount Vernon, although it could never again be the gay season it had been, was yet cheerful. The presence of Lord Fairfax and George, of Madam Washington and Betty, revived the spirits of the master and mistress. William Fairfax, now a handsome young man of eighteen, and the same mild, manly, good-natured fellow, was home from Williamsburg for the holidays. George had never been to Williamsburg, where there was a viceregal court, and where everything was conducted upon a scale adapted to a representative of royalty. He was much impressed by William's description, and they made many plans for a holiday together, the next winter, in the capital.
"And we will attend the Governor's levee—but you must not be too much of a republican, George, for the Governor exacts viceregal respect—and the assemblies in the great Apollo Room at the Raleigh Tavern, and the lectures at the college by learned men from England and Scotland. Ah, George, how you will enjoy it!" cried William.
Lord Fairfax, hearing the young men talk, felt a desire to revisit Williamsburg, a place where he had spent some happy days, and soon after this conversation, when William had already returned to college, he said, one day: