IV



He came in again on Sunday, but Burleigh and other men were there; and
as the Senate had adjourned until the fifth, there was no excuse for
him to call at the late hour when she was sure to be alone; so he
dropped in twice to luncheon, and they went for a long walk in Rock
Creek Park afterward. On one of these occasions Sally Carter joined
them; and on the other, although but for the occasional passer-by they
were alone for two hours in the wild beauty of rocky gorges and winter
woods, they talked of war and Spain. He left her at the door.

On Thursday night she was to have her dinner, and in spite of her
stormy inner life she felt a pleasurable nervousness as the hour
approached; for on its results depended the colour of her future. With
love or without it she had to live on, and if she could see the way to
serve her country, to preserve some of its higher ideals as well as to
win a distinguished position, she had no doubt that in time she should
find resignation.

All her invitations but one had been accepted: the British Ambassador
was attending a diplomatic dinner, but would come in later. Betty was
not altogether regretful, for the question of precedence, with all her
personages, was sufficiently complicated. The Speaker ranked the
Senators, but there were eight Senators to be disposed of with tact;
they might overlook a mistake, but their wives or daughters would not.