Her husband was a member of the House from New York, and during his frequent absences I used to take her to dinner.

Mr.Sickles had been Mr.
Buchanan's Secretary of Legation in London, and both she and he were at home in the White House.
She was an innocent child.

She never knew what she was doing, and when a year later Sickles, having killed her seducer--a handsome, unscrupulous fellow who understood how to take advantage of a husband's neglect--forgave her and brought her home in the face of much obloquy, in my heart of hearts I did homage to his courage and generosity, for she was then as he and I both knew a dying woman.

She did die but a few months later.

He was by no means a politician after my fancy or approval, but to the end of his days I was his friend and could never bring myself to join in the repeated public outcries against him.
Early in the fifties Willard's Hotel became a kind of headquarters for the two political extremes.