It was near the end of our stay in Rome that we had our audience with the Pope⁠— Mrs. Taft, Robert, Helen and I. I wore a black afternoon gown with a black veil on my head, while Mrs. Taft wore her widow’s veil as usual. Helen, I dressed in white and, to her very great excitement, she wore a white lace veil. Bishop O’Gorman accompanied us and when we reached the door of the Vatican under the colonnade at the right of St. Peter’s, we were met by some members of the Swiss Guard in their curious uniforms, conducted through endless corridors and rich apartments until we came to a small waiting-room where we were left for a few moments by ourselves. We had only time to adjust our veils and compose ourselves when the door on one side opened and we were ceremoniously ushered into the presence of Leo XIII who sat on a low chair under a simple canopy at the far end of the room. He rose to greet us as we entered, and as we were presented one by one he extended his hand over which we each bowed as we received his blessing.