Occasionally, though not often, Mr.Ratcliffe came at other times, as when he persuaded Mrs.Lee to be present at the Inauguration, and to call on the President's wife.

Madeleine and Sybil went to the Capitol and had the best places to see and hear the Inauguration, as well as a cold March wind would allow.

Mrs.Lee found fault with the ceremony; it was of the earth, earthy, she said.

An elderly western farmer, with silver spectacles, new and glossy evening clothes, bony features, and stiff; thin, gray hair, trying to address a large crowd of people, under the drawbacks of a piercing wind and a cold in his head, was not a hero.
Sybil's mind was lost in wondering whether the President would not soon die of pneumonia.

Even this experience, however, was happy when compared with that of the call upon the President's wife, after which Madeleine decided to leave the new dynasty alone in future.