In November, he’s chosen as a delegate from Bel Air to a great mass meeting in support of the Know-Nothing candidate for Congress, Henry Winter Davis. The day starts dry, but follows a night of rain that left the roads in great puddles of mud. Asia decides to ride Fanny rather than taking the cariole and so she dresses that morning in her riding habit, short jacket, overskirt. She meets John downstairs and he’s wearing a coat Asia has never seen before, red with velvet lapels, over a light vest, and with pale gray trousers strapped under his boots. He’s begun to grow a mustache, as yet a faint shadow on his upper lip. He looks magnificent. Rosalie and Mother come into the parlor to exclaim over him.

“Come with us,” Asia says to Rosalie, knowing that she won’t. She says that crowds give her a headache.

The roads are so jammed, they unsettle Fanny, who prefers to stay out of the mud but also at a certain distance from other horses. She dances about the puddles and, Asia suspects, may even on occasion be hoping to shake her off and go home. Fanny’s had a foal that she’s now reluctant to leave.

It’s discovered that the Bel Air banner, needed to decorate the stage, was left behind so John says he’ll ride back for it. He and Cola take off at a reasonable clip, hugging the side of the road rather than weaving through the traffic moving in the other direction. Asia hears the crowd gasp. Cola is on his knees; a bit of ground has crumbled beneath his hoofs. But John leaps off, pulls Cola upright, and remounts without a foot in a stirrup, simply springing unaided to Cola’s back. He gives the crowd a quick, careless salute, then urges Cola forward again.

Asia is aware of the fluttering handkerchiefs and hearts around her. “He’s so handsome,” a woman nearby says. “Who is he?”

Asia goes to stable Fanny. A wall of black clouds is forming to the west and they must all hope that the rain will hold off. Only the stage is covered.

There’s a parade to the platform. People crowd the sides of the roads to make room for the marching Know-Nothings. She worried that John would not be back in time, but there he is, carrying the flag of the party, red and white stripes and in the blue corner, an eagle spreading his wings aggressively over the ballot box. Superimposed on the stripes are the words NATIVE AMERICAИS, BEWARE OF FOREIGИ IИFLUEИCE.