The Long View.(humor about famous people from history)

Great Moments in Autobiography

From page 267 of Present at the Creation: My Life and Times with Thomas Jefferson, in and around the Whyte House, Virginia, and Congreff, by Mrs. Thomas Jefferson (Putnam, 1809):

"Sit down a moment, I pray you," he said to me, as I was sipping my morning ale. He always used the same tenor of voice when about to discuss a difficult and indiscreet subject, so I instantly felt a keen sense of apprehension and discomfort.

"Sally," I said sharply, "please leave Mr. Jefferson and myself in private for a few moments. Perhaps you can repair to the smokehouse for a time and practice that tuneless, mournful singing your people enjoy so much."

"If you don't mind, dearest," Thomas stammered fecklessly, "it might be best if Sally were to stay. You see, she is the subject of my forthcoming words . . . Oh, where to begin?"

"Well, out with it, Thomas," quoth I, setting down my breakfast beefsteak.

And then he told me, in rambling and disconnected speeches, wheedles, murmurs, and words, the story of his interlocutions with our own Sally Hemings, and others, &c. I was stunned. My morning fish stew sat at table, getting colder. I could scarcely breathe.