America's First Daughter

Patsy tries to hide bruises inflicted by her husband. She can’t fool her father or their guest. William pursues her into the garden, demanding to know what Tom has done. William once again professes his love for her.

Later, Tom confronts Patsy in a jealous rage. He threatens to duel with William. To protect William and her own reputation, Patsy asks William to leave, though she also declares her feelings for him. William proposes that they run away together, but Patsy reminds him of her duty to her father and children. William departs, as does Tom: “So instead of feeling compassion for a husband in the grip of madness, I felt only relief that Tom was gone. And fear that he’d return” (529).

A short while later, General Lafayette pays a visit to Monticello: “Together, they’d changed the world. And I loved them both. These two giants of my childhood now come together in the evening of their lives” (530). Lafayette rebukes Jefferson because slavery still exists in America when the country ought to be a haven of liberty for all.

Patsy finds Tom living in a squalid little house in Milton. She wants him to come back to Monticello for their daughter’s wedding, but he refuses: “I didn’t despair at losing Ellen. I gloried in her escape from the sinking ship upon which the rest of us now sailed” (537).

Jeff is forced to sell Edgehill along with all its slaves. Patsy is disturbed by the auction and tries to save some of the servants. She tells her son that she will take them instead of her share of the proceeds from the plantation sale. Shortly afterward, Jeff informs her that Monticello itself may have to be rented or sold. Jefferson is distraught at the prospect.

Ann shows up at the plantation, pregnant and severely beaten. She dies soon after giving birth to a son. Patsy decides to make peace with Charles in order to get control of the children: “I whispered sweetly in the ear of my daughter’s murderer how her babies would be best left with me … until, at length, he agreed. And I am not sorry for it to this day” (544).

In 1826, Jefferson concocts a lottery scheme to save Monticello. He plans to allocate some choice acreage to be raffled off. The legislature approves the lottery but stipulates that Monticello must be the prize. Both Jefferson and Patsy will receive life estates. Jefferson leaves all his remaining property to Patsy alone.

In early summer, Jefferson feels himself near death and gives orders for his coffin to be made. He goes into decline but is determined to hold out until the Fourth of July. John Adams dies on the same day: “My father—who had always known his place in that world—passed like the hero he was from life into legend” (551-52).

Tom attends the funeral and taunts Patsy for her heartlessness when she doesn’t cry in public: “All my life I’d held back my tears. For my father’s sanity, for his reputation, and now for his legacy […] no one would ever see me fall to pieces” (556).

The lottery scheme to save Monticello falls through. Jeff is forced to sell off all the furniture, possessions, and slaves while he seeks a buyer for the property itself. Sally is freed and moves away with her remaining children.

Patsy goes to live with Ellen’s family in Boston for a while. She decides to attempt a reconciliation with Tom. Finding him terminally ill and still living in squalor, Patsy proposes that the family take up residence at Monticello until it is sold. Tom will be allocated a small house of his own on the estate, which he meekly accepts.

After reconciling with his wife and children, Tom passes away. He asks to be buried above Jefferson’s tombstone, remaining in the great man’s shadow, just as he was in life: “Tom will be remembered, almost entirely I think, through his letters to my father, and my father’s letters to him. Of which I will shape every word” (568).

In 1829, Patsy finishes assembling his father’s correspondence for publication. She has remained at Monticello until the work is done and the papers are crated for sale: “I feel like a spirit of the place that has survived the death of its body, now deprived of even its purpose in going on because my father’s papers are ready to publish” (569).

William arrives unexpectedly. He tells her there’s no reason for her to stay and that she should let Monticello go: “He’s gone. This isn’t his home anymore. And it’s not your home, either. It’s a set of chains” (571). This remark triggers Patsy’s tears. She finally falls to pieces for the first time in her life. William persuades her that the only way she can be happy is if she leaves.

Patsy realizes she hasn’t thought about her own happiness since she was a child. She wants to leave with William: “I look back once, then not again. I want to walk from this place. I want to run” (574). William once called her an Amazon, and she proudly acknowledges the fact that she is one. 

By 1830, Patsy is living in Washington with her daughter Ginny’s family. She receives a surprise visit from President Andrew Jackson, who requests her aid. Because he’s a widower, Jackson needs a female partner who can successfully influence parlor politics and adroitly manage government social functions. Patsy, once again, becomes first lady and is the acknowledged grand dame of the city.

Because she promised Tom she would never marry again, Patsy and William maintain a confidential romantic relationship. He lives in Philadelphia, and her frequent need to travel on government business never arouses suspicion:

Like my father, I, too, have a secret passion in my old age. Stolen kisses. Clandestine assignations. Love letters that are burnt after they are read. For our love belongs to William and me alone. And it is a love that endures (580).

Patsy takes her first ride on a railway train, convinced that the experience would have equally delighted her father: “I’m exhilarated with the possibility and promise of our extraordinary journey” (580).