CHAPTER XX
WASHINGTON—THE WHITE HOUSE—MOUNT VERNON
A few days after our arrival the Queen signified her wish to call on the President, so we all attended Her Majesty to the White House. President Cleveland and his beautiful young bride most cordially received and hospitably entertained us; and a more recent experience of my own would prove that neither one of them has ever forgotten that their position required them to be really the first lady and the first gentleman of the land.
At two o’clock in the afternoon of the same day our call was returned by Mrs. Cleveland, accompanied by the ladies of the cabinet. No person could have shown in her presence a fairer type of youth and loveliness than the wife of the President, and her manner was graceful and dignified in a rare degree for so young a lady. She impressed us with a conviction, since most abundantly justified, that she was well chosen for the duties and responsibilities of an exalted position. On the day following her call we were invited to dine at the executive mansion. The Queen occupied the seat of the guest of honor at the right of President Cleveland; the Secretary of State, Mr. Endicott, attended me to my seat on the President’s left; the Ha-
