ed through the efforts of Peggy Shippen, who had
proposed her name to His Excellency on the occasion of his visit to her
house. She would be included in their party and would be assigned a
partner befitting her company. Because of the prominence of the
Shippens, it was thought that the gallant young French Officers, would
be assigned to them. Marjorie rejoiced at this although the Shippen
girls evinced no such sentiment. Whether it was because the French
alliance was distasteful to them or because their Tory leanings took
precedence, they preferred other guests for partners. But as the matter
was to be decided by lot, their likings were not consulted.

Ere long the city was agog with speculation respecting the coming ball.
The battle of Monmouth was accorded a second place. The disdain of the
middle class, who had been embittered against such demonstrations by the
profligacy displayed during the days of the British occupation, soon
began to make itself felt. That it was the first official or formal
function of the new republic mattered little. A precedent was about to
be established. There was to be a continuation of the shameful
extravagance which they had been compelled to witness during the winter
and which they feared they would be forced to maintain for another
protracted period. Living was high, extremely high, and the value of the
paper currency had depreciated to almost nothing. Indeed it was said
that a certain barber in the town had papered his entire shop with the
bills and that a dog had been led up and down the streets, smeared with
tar, and adorned cap-a-pie with paper money. To feed and clothe the army
was expense enough without being compelled to pay for the splendors of a
military ball. Small wonder that the coming event aroused no ordinary
speculation.

Nevertheless preparations went on with growing vigor and magnificence,
and not the least interested was Marjorie. The event was now awaited
with painful anxiety. Even the war for a moment was relegated to a place
of minor import.

CHAPTER III

I

An imposing spectacle greeted Marjorie's eyes as she made her way in
company with the Shippen girls into the ballroom of the City Tavern. The
hall was superb, of a charming style of architecture, well furnished and
lighted, and brilliantly decorated with a profusion of American and
French flags arranged in festoons and trianguloids and drapings
throughout its entire length and breadth, its atmosph