America's First Daughter

In April of 1789, Patsy writes her father a letter informing him of her plans to become a nun. They have a quiet chat one evening to discuss the matter. It becomes fraught with emotional turmoil. Jefferson declares that he intends for Patsy to be the comfort of his old age. He says that he would be lost without her. Jefferson reminds Patsy that he has taken a vow never to marry again. Without Patsy at his side in later years, he will be completely alone. She relents and promises to look after him.

As a distraction, Jefferson arranges a string of parties for Patsy’s debut season despite rumblings of discontent in the country. The king calls for a meeting of the Estates-General to calm the situation. Patsy declares, “The start of the French Revolution was orchestrated in my father’s parlor” (162). Oblivious to the political changes taking shape, the upper classes continue their round of parties. During one of these occasions, while Patsy is surrounded by admirers, she spies William. 

William approaches and asks to speak to Patsy privately. She’s angry that he never wrote during the time he was away. William explains that Jefferson still viewed his daughter as a child a year earlier. Now that she’s made her debut, she’s considered marriageable. William proposes, melting her remaining reserve.

Patsy explains that she promised God she would join the convent if Polly recovered from typhus. She is still wrestling with this decision but admits to herself that she loves William. She’s deliriously happy when he kisses her but asks for more time to consider his proposal.

William carves a heart with his initials into a nearby tree. He says that he will wait until he sees Patsy’s initials carved there as well. Then he’ll ask Jefferson for her hand. That night, Patsy reconsiders her promise to God: “If Papa himself could be an instrument of God’s justice, was it not a moral duty for me and William Short to serve as his helpmates” (178).

In May of 1789, the atmosphere in Paris grows ever more tense. Jefferson declares that they must all prepare to leave for America soon. He hopes William will follow. Patsy is startled because she assumed William would succeed Jefferson in his foreign post. Her father says that those who handle the appointment may not act on his recommendation.

During a time when every citizen of France is agitating for liberty, Jefferson’s own slaves raise the issue. Sally’s brother, James, demands his freedom. He’s become a master chef and insists that he wants to stay in France, along with Sally, when the family goes back to America. Jefferson defers a final decision until another time. Patsy knows that her father hates being abandoned, even by his servants.

As Patsy is on her way to Versailles in search of William, he intercepts her because the streets have become too dangerous. Patsy finally declares her love for him and abandons her plan to become a nun.

Patsy gets the courage to tell her father that she wants to marry William. He says he’ll give his blessing once William is settled in Virginia near Monticello. Patsy later learns that William wants to be a career diplomat and will never become a slave-holding plantation owner.

Patsy is torn between her desire to marry William and her duty toward her father. She fears Jefferson would be devastated if she left him alone. During this time, Patsy also receives a wedding proposal from the elderly Duke of Dorset, which she rejects.

One evening, Polly jokingly tells Sally that she’s growing fat. Patsy is shocked to realize that Sally is pregnant with her father’s child. Jefferson has been conducting an affair with the slave all along: “My father indulged his base inclinations while having contrived to separate me from the man I wanted” (204). Ashamed to face his daughter, Jefferson pleads sickness and stays in his room. Days later, he tells Patsy that he will give them all their freedom. Patsy fears doing so will destroy him.