Helen had gone out in Washington and had attended my entertainments during the winter of 1909 whenever she had been at home from college and when I was ill had even acted as hostess in my place at a dinner we gave for Prince and Princess Fushimi of Japan, but she had never “come out,” so I gave two parties early in the winter of 1910 in honor of her debut.

We began with an afternoon At Home, for which, as my daughter says she “got all the flowers there were in Washington,” and later I gave a ball on the night of December 30th, when the East Room was filled with hundreds of young people clamouring for “just one more dance” until two o’clock in the morning.

The New Year’s Reception was followed in quick succession by the Diplomatic, Congressional, Judicial and other state functions; the winter passed like a dream; the Garden Party season was upon us; then came the greatest event of our four years in the White House, our Silver Wedding.