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Seward arrived at home to find Will in stable condition. On election eve, he delivered a speech to the citizens of Auburn. He began with the sanguine prediction that the rebellion “will perish…and slavery will perish with it.” While his optimism might provoke criticism in some quarters, he explained, “as in religion, so in politics, it is faith, and not despondency, that overcomes mountains and scales the heavens.” His faith, he predicted, would be confirmed by the Unionist triumph in the coming elections. “The object of this election,” he said, “is the object of the war. It is to make Abraham Lincoln President de facto” in the South as he is in the North. “There can be no peace and quiet, until Abraham Lincoln is President of the whole United States.” Then, arousing the wrath of radicals, Seward extended his hand to the South, saying, “I am willing that the prodigal son shall return. The doors, as far as I am concerned, shall always be open to him.”

As the voters went to the polls on Tuesday, Lincoln telegraphed Seward. “How is your son?” he inquired. “Thanks. William is better,” Seward replied. “Our friends reckon on (25,000) majority in the state.” New York did even better than that, reversing the losses of the previous year to give a 30,000 majority to the administration. In every state with the exception of New Jersey, Seward reported, “the Copperhead spirit is crushed and humbled.”

A FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE enveloped the nation’s capital after the elections as official Washington prepared for the social event of the decade: the wedding of Kate Chase and William Sprague. Fifty guests, including the president, the entire cabinet, and selected congressmen, senators, and generals, were invited to the wedding ceremony on Thursday evening, November 12, in the parlor of the Chase mansion. Five hundred additional invitations had been delivered for the reception immediately following the exchange of vows.

For weeks, the newspapers were filled with gossip about the wedding. It was said that Sprague had given Kate a diamond tiara worth $50,000. Women readers relished details “about the bridal trousseau—the robes, the pearls, the diamonds, the lace, the silver, and all the magnificent gifts of this Millionaire Wedding.” Curiosity seekers noted the arrival of eminent guests at the Willard Hotel. The spectacle offered a brief respite from the endless sorrows of the war—the casualty reports, the scenes of suffering in the hospitals, the rumors of impending military engagements.

For Salmon Chase, the imminent marriage brought a welter of conflicting emotions. Writing frankly to Sprague thirteen days before the wedding, he acknowledged that he was beginning “to realize how changed every thing will be when she is gone.” His life had long been occupied with “the solicitous care” of his beloved daughter, who had “constantly become more thoughtful, more affectionate, more loving; and, at this hour, is dearer than ever.” Though they would share the same Washington household, Chase understood that he would no longer enjoy Kate’s undivided attention. By return mail, Sprague reassured Chase that he fully appreciated their “high & holy relation” and would “never be happier than when contributing to continue the same relations between father & daughter—that has heretofore existed.” Referring most likely to his drinking problem, Sprague admitted that in the past he had “neglected both mind & body,” but promised henceforth to take care of himself, and “with good health and a proper exercise of the talent God has been pleased to give me, I hope to do something usefull for my day and generation.”

Those close to Kate remarked that her emotions ran high as the marriage drew near. John Hay recounted that she cried “like a baby” just weeks before the wedding when he took her to see Maggie Mitchell in The Pearl of Savoy. The play revolves around the romantic travails of Marie, a peasant girl whose innocent love for a peasant boy is thwarted by a lecherous aristocrat determined to possess the lovely young girl. Through the wealthy suitor’s