Away from the House of Burgesses the coming horse race displaced the war for a brief space.

It was the great topic in Williamsburg and the historic names, Blenheim and Cressy, were in the mouths of everybody.
Robert soon discovered that the horses were well known, and each had its numerous group of partisans.

Their qualities were discussed by the women and girls as well as the men and with intelligence.

Robert, filled with the spirit of it, laid a small wager on Blenheim, and then, in order to show no partiality, laid another in another quarter, but of exactly the same amount on Cressy.
The evening witnessed more arrivals in Williamsburg, drawn by the news of the race, and young men galloped up and down the wide street in the moonlight, testing their own horses, and riding improvised matches.

The rivalry was always friendly, the gentlemen's code that there should be no ill feeling prevailed, and more than ever the entire gathering seemed to Robert one vast family.