MRS. WOODROW WILSON 353
next mail I began to get letters from old ladies telling me how shameful it was for me to allow the President to wear a torn sweater; that I could at least mend it—and some of the dear old souls even sent me grey wool to darn it with.
The Prince of Wales visited Washington a fortnight later. Naturally his coming caused a greater flutter in the younger element of society than in the older. Personally I saw him only twice—when he came to tea with me, and again when he came to say his formal adieux. He was ten minutes late to tea, but said he knew I would forgive him when he told me the reason. He was returning by motor from Mount Vernon and "a very charming young lady" stopped him to present some flowers, and of course he had to pause a few minutes to express his appreciation properly. We laughed, and I told him I was only sorry his visit was so brief and that he could not take all the time he coveted for unofficial entertainments, which are generally the most interesting.
After we had had tea I took him upstairs to see the President. At first he seemed as embarrassed as many another young boy would be to go to see an older man in his sickroom. He sat beside the great bed nervously pleating Hs trousers. My husband recalled their former meeting in Paris, and then spoke of the visit of our caller's grandfather, King Edward, to the White House when he was Prince of Wales. The boy left off his nervous gestures and I knew he had forgotten himself. Mr. Wilson told him the bed he occupied was said by some to have been made especially for King Edward; others, however, claimed it was made for Lincoln. But all agreed that the King had slept in it, and, after a busy official day, had arisen one night and slipped out by the window to go to a dance which was not on his official programme. Tins captured the Prince's imagination and, springing up, he moved quickly to the window, saying: "Do you think it was this window, sir?" Unfortunately we could not say.
When he arose to go all embarrassment had left him. In a