America's First Daughter

In the fall of 1784, Jefferson and Patsy arrive in Paris. Both are impressed by the magnificence of the city. They visit John Adams. His wife, Abigail, immediately takes charge of their attire, declaring that neither one is fit to be seen in public without new clothes. Patsy warms toward Abigail immediately: “I felt mothered as I hadn’t been in years” (69-70). Jefferson arranges to send Patsy to a convent school. At first, she resists the idea but soon makes friends and enjoys the time she spends there. William, now her father’s secretary, comes to visit and brings her news.

During the Christmas holiday, the Jeffersons receive the sad tidings that Lucy, the youngest daughter, has died: “I was to […] protect the little family that Mama so loved, and I was stunned by my failure” (78). Patsy is determined to bring her remaining sibling, Polly, to Paris. She believes that her family must unite under one roof. 

Patsy becomes suspicious of one of her father’s business associates, Mr. Charles Williamos. She searches his room and finds a tailor’s bill that Williamos has charged to Jefferson. He’s later exposed as a British spy and sent packing. Patsy concludes, “It would be much better […] if all American women learned to study the manners of people and warned against the bad ones” (86).