That she was extravagantly
popular with men old and young is proved in many ways. Wherever she
went she was a belle. Whether the male beings she met chanced to be
young and stupid or old and wise, there was something for them to
admire in Theo, for she was both beautiful and witty, and she had
something of her father's "confidence of manner" which won adherents
right and left.
Mayor Livingston took her on board a frigate in the harbour one day,
and warned her to leave her usual retainers behind.
"Now, Theodosia," he admonished her with affectionate raillery, "you
must bring none of your _sparks_ on board! They have a magazine there,
and we should all be blown up!"
In 1801, when she was eighteen years old, the lovely Theo married
Joseph Alston, an immensely rich rice planter from South Carolina,
owner of more than a thousand slaves, and at one time governor of his
state. Though she went to the South to live, she never could bear to
sever entirely her relations with Richmond Hill. It is a curious fact
that everyone who ever lived there loved it best of all the places in
the world.
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