Their turn to alight came at
last, and they took their places in the procession of visitors on its
way through the East room to the spot where the President and his wife,
assisted by some of the ladies of the Cabinet, were submitting to the
ordeal of receiving the nation. There was a veritable crush, in which
there was every variety of evening toilette, a display essentially in
keeping with the doctrines which Selma felt that she stood for. She took
occasion to rejoice in Lyons's ear at the realization of her
anticipations in this respect. At the same time she was agreeably
stimulated by the belief that her wedding dress was sumptuous and
stylish, and her appearance striking. Her hair had been dressed as
elaborately as possible; she wore all her jewelry; and she carried a
bouquet of costly roses. Her wish was to regard the function as the
height of social demonstration, and she had spared no pains to make
herself effective. She had esteemed it her duty to do so both as a
Congressman's wife and as a champion of moral and democratic ideas.
The crowd was oppressive, and three times the train of her dress was
stepped on to her discomfiture. Amid the sea of faces she recognized a
few of the people she had seen at the hotel.
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