To My Dearest Robert | Glory

A Boston Party

Abigail did not respond to Theodore Warren's invitation to accompany him to the party taking place. When the Colonel informed her that the party was for his men who had just returned from Washington, D.C. Abigail's mind knew exactly what she had to do. She knew she had to attend the party alone so she would be able to socialize with the soldiers without the presence of her accomplice, and she had to do what she always does best, talk her way into learning information about the war. Abigail did get concerned with herself sometimes about how much she wanted to know about the war, but she told herself that it was because her father was trying so hard to keep her from it, if he would tell his daughter what was happening, she would not feel so strongly about finding out what was happening from soldiers.

    Hanging up in Abigail's closet was many grand dresses she had worn to many parties back in central Massachusetts, but she had always had one that was her favorite. The dress had nothing special about it and to Josephine it was bland, it was a light shade of pink that was almost white if one just looked at it for only a second. There were small ruffles on the shoulders and at the bottom of the dress and the circumference of the dress was much smaller than the other dresses in Abigail's closet, which she preferred. Abigail sat at her vanity staring at herself in the mirror while wearing her favorite dress. She brushed her hair while she waited for her mother to come and style it for the party.

    Only a few minutes went by until Josephine had entered the room looking at her daughter who was lost in thought. Josephine, who was already dressed and ready for the party, grabbed a brush from Abigails vanity, snapping Abigail out of her thoughts, 'Lost in thought' Josephine asked, 'When I was your age I would do the same, most of the time I was daydreaming about my life with your father' she tells her daughter.

    Abigail was often reminded that she was approaching the age that her mother married her father, 'Twenty, you were twenty when you married father, and now I will be twenty soon and it is important I find a husband' Abigail said outlaid while looking at herself in the mirror, Abigail knew her mother was eventually going to tell her the exact same thing, so she decided to do it first. Josephine fell quiet and began doing Abigail's hair for the party, she wanted to pull all of Abigail's hair up into an updo but she knew Abigail would instantly protest, she hated having her hair tied up, but the two came to a compromise, half of Abigail's hair would be up while the bottom half would be down. Neither of them truly liked the hairstyle, but Abigail received many compliments on it and it satisfied Josephine and Abigail.

    William, Josephine, and Abigail arrived at the party as it was starting, along with other families with their young daughters and sons. Abigail noted the house that the party was held at, it was only four houses down from hers and was a large brick home that had beautiful trees on the outside. As she followed her family into the home it had a large staircase and room where there were many people gathered and all of their eyes were fixed on the large staircase. Abigail followed their gaze and saw the men from the army coming down the stairs, all with a woman around their arm. She watched as each of them came down the stairs and caught the eye of one particular soldier. He had a woman on his arm, but his eyes were fixed on Abigail, and her eyes were staring back at him as he made his way down the stairs and disappeared into the gathering of people.

    Abigail looked around to make sure no one saw the exchange of looks between her and the soldier, and to her relief, there was not. As her parents walked away to make small talk with their acquaintances, Abigail saw Theodore Warren making his way towards her. Abigail sighed and then smiled as he approached her, 'Miss Abigail' he said taking her hand and kissing it, 'Theodore' she said still having a smile on her face. As Theodore began talking, music started to play and the soldiers and the woman began to dance, Abigail watched as they each held each other and danced, and then a few seconds later they would switch partners and continue, never breaking from the dance. When Theodore noticed Abigail was not listening to him, he knew he had to do something to get the girl's attention, 'May I have the dance Abigail' Theodore asked Abigail holding out his hand. Abigail placed her hand in his and nodded as Theodore led them to the dance floor. Theodore placed his hand around Abigail's waist and held her other hand out while Abigail placed her remaining hand on his shoulder, and the two entered into the dance like they had been there the entire time.