If the reception at the White House had been calm, Betty's _salon_ on
the following evening was not. On Tuesday the House, after duly
relieving its feelings by an hour and a half of war talk, flaming with
every variety of patriotism, passed the bill appropriating $50,000,000
for the national defence. On Wednesday the bill passed the Senate
without a word beyond the "ayes" of its members. On the morrow the War
Department would begin the mobilization of the army; and although the
_Maine_ Court of Inquiry had not completed its labours, the New York
World, in the interest of curious humanity, had instituted a submarine
inquiry of its own and given the result to the country. Even Senator
North regarded war as almost inevitable, although the controvertible
proof of explosion from without only involved the Spanish by inference.
The women who were privileged to attend the now famous _salon_ wore
their freshest and most becoming gowns, and most of the Senators would
have been glad to have frivoled away the evening in compliments, so
refreshing was the sight of an attractive face after a long and anxious
day. But the eyes of the women sparkled with patriotic fire only. One
burst into tears and others threatened hysterics, but got through the
evening comfortably. Mrs. Madison sat on a sofa and fanned herself
nervously; Senator Maxwell and Senator North at her request kept close
to her side.
"They were not so excited during the Civil War," she exclaimed, as a
shrill voice smote her ear. "I suppose we have developed more nerves or
something."
"The mind was possessed by the Grim Fact during the Civil War," said
Senator Maxwell. "This is a second-rate thing that appeals to the
nerves and not to the soul."
Betty, who understood the patient longing of her statesmen for variety,
had imported for the evening several members of the troupe singing at
the Metropolitan Opera House. Conversation consequently was interrupted
six or seven times, but it burst forth with increased vigour at the end
of every song; and when the Polish tenor with mistaken affability sang
"The Star Spangled Banner," the women and some of the younger men took
it up with such vehemence that Mrs. Madison put her fingers to her
ears. When one girl jumped on a chair and waved her handkerchief, which
she had painted red, white, and blue, the unwilling hostess asked
Senator North if he thought Betty would be able to keep her head till
the end of the evening, or would be excited to some extraordinary antic.
"There is not the least danger," he replied soothingly. "Miss Madison
could manage to look impassive if a cyclone were raging within her. It
is a long while since the Americans have had a chance to be excited.
You must make allowances."
Betty for some time had suppressed her Populist with difficulty. He was
one of those Americans to whom a keen thin face and a fair education
give the superficial appearance of refinement. In a country as
democratic as the United States and where schooling and intelligence
are so widespread, it is possible for many half-bred men to create a
good impression when in an equable frame of mind. But excitement tears
their thin coat of gentility in twain, and Betty already regretted
having invited Armstrong to her salon. He had not missed a Thursday
evening, for he not only appreciated the social advantage of a footing
in such a house, but his clever mind enjoyed the conversation there,
and the frankly expressed opinions of well-bred people who argued
without acerbity and never called each other names. With his slender
well-dressed figure and bright fair sharply cut face, he by no means
looked an alien, and if he could have corrected the habit of
contradicting people up and down--to say nothing of his occasional
indulgence in the Congressional snort--his manners would have passed
muster in any gathering. He was a good specimen of the ambitious
American of obscure birth and clever but shallow brain, quick to seize
every opportunity for advancement. But politics were his strongest
instinct, and exciting crises stifled every other.
He was very much excited to-night, for he had, during the afternoon,
tried three times to bring in a war resolution, and thrice been
extinguished by the Speaker. When the tenor started "The Star-Spangled
Banner," he braced himself against the wall and sang at the top of his
lungs; and the performance seemed to lash his temper rather than
relieve it. He twice raised his voice to unburden his mind, and was
distracted by Betty, who kept him close beside her. Finally she
attempted to change the subject by chatting of personal matters.
"I went to the White House last night," she said, "and was delighted to
find that the President had the most charming manners--"
"What's a manner?" interrupted Armstrong, roughly. "You women are all
alike. I suppose you'd turn up your nose at William J. Bryan because he
ain't what you call a gentleman. But if he were in the White House
instead of that milk-and-water puppet of Wall Street, we'd be shooting
those murderers down in Cuba as we ought to be. The President and the
whole Republican party," he shouted, "are a lot of hogs who've chawed
so much gold their digestion won't work and their brains are torpid;
and there's nothing to do but to kick them into this war--the whole
greedy, white-livered, Trust-owned, thieving lot of them, including
that great immaculate Joss up at the White House with his manners. Damn
his manners! They come too high--"
"Armstrong," said Burleigh soothingly, but with a glint in his eye, "I
have an important communication to make to you. Will you come out into
the hall a moment?" He passed his arm through the Populist's, and led
him unresistingly away.
Betty glanced at her mother. Mrs. Madison was fanning herself with an
air of profound satisfaction. As she met her daughter's eyes, she
raised her brows, and her whole being breathed the content of the
successful prophetess. Senator North looked grimly amused. Betty turned
away hastily. She felt much like laughing, herself.
Burleigh returned alone. "I took the liberty of telling him to go and
not to come again," he said. "That sort of man never apologizes, so you
are rid of him."
Betty smiled and thanked him; then she frowned a little, for she saw
several people glance significantly at each other. She knew that
Washington took it for granted she would marry Burleigh.
They went in to supper a few moments later, and in that admirable meal
the weary statesmen found the solace that woman denied him. And the
flowers were fragrant; the candlelight was grateful to tired eyes, and
the champagne unrivalled. Until the toasts--which in this agitated time
had become a necessary feature of the _salon_--the conversation, under
the tactful management of Betty and several of her friends, and the
diverting influence of the great singers, was but a subdued hum about
nothing in particular. When at the end of an hour Burleigh rose
impulsively and proposed the health of the President, even the
Democrats responded with as much warmth as courtesy.
"You manage your belligerents very well," said Senator North, when he
shook her hand awhile later. "Yours has probably been the only amiable
supper-room in Washington to-night."