A WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY BALL The Bassetts moved to the capital that winter, arriving with the phalanx of legislators in January, and establishing themselves in a furnished house opportunely vacated by the Bosworths, who were taking the Mediterranean trip.

Bassett had been careful to announce to the people of Fraserville that the removal was only temporary, and that he and his family would return in the spring, but Marian held private opinions quite at variance with her father's published statements.
Mrs.Bassett's acquiescence had been due to Mrs.Owen's surprising support of Marian's plan.

In declaring that she would never, never consent to live in a flat, Mrs.Bassett had hoped to dispose of Marian's importunities, to which Bassett had latterly lent mild approval.

When, however, Mrs.Owen suggested the Bosworth house, which could be occupied with the minimum of domestic vexation, Mrs.Bassett promptly consented, feeling that her aunt's interest might conceal a desire in the old lady's breast to have some of her kinsfolk near her.

Mrs.Bassett had not allowed her husband to forget the dangerous juxtaposition of Sylvia Garrison to Mrs.Owen's check-book.