he navy, and Lord Fairfax was in Virginia to add either
persuasion or influence as needed. Mary Washington was set in her
determination that George should not become a sailor. Thus it was
decided that surveying or engineering was the best outlook for the young
man's future career, and Mount Vernon and Belvoir the seat of his
further learning. Lord Fairfax would employ the embryo engineer as soon
as he had sufficient instruction to be useful. The pupil was adept, the
instructors efficient, and we see young Washington setting out with his
new friend, George William, in March of 1748, upon his first surveying
mission in the employment of Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax.

On his return from this mission, serious, sober young Fairfax (he was
twenty-three at the time) offered himself as a burgess for Frederick
County and was duly elected. He followed his father to Williamsburg,
where he found attractions more absorbing than lawmaking. After "several
opportunities of visiting Miss Cary" he fell a victim to the wiles and
graces of the belle of the season. _The Virginia Gazette_ for December
1748 carried this bit of social news: "Married on the 17th inst., George
William Fairfax, Esqr., eldest son of the Honorable William Fairfax of
His Majesty's Council to Sarah, eldest daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary
of Ceelys."

Of all the colonial belles whose shades furnish theme for paean and
lighten the pages of history, none is more colorful than Sally Cary.
This girl, only seventeen, with head of red-brown hair, great
intelligent eyes shaded by long, thick lashes, long rounded throat and
beautifully modelled hands, arms and shoulders, had an intellect which
far surpassed her husband's.

When not at Williamsburg attending the assembly, the young Fairfaxes
resided at Belvoir, where Sally acted as hostess for her widowed
father-in-law or the bachelor Lord from Greenway Court. This house,
after the Palace at Williamsburg, was the center of the social and
political life of Virginia. The Fairfaxes were of ancient, noble
lineage, with ample fortune, representing the very best in Old World
culture. William Fairfax, as President of the Council, was second only
in importance to the royal governor, serving as head of the state during
the absences of His Excellency. Naturally, his home was the gathering
place for men of eminence in the colony, as well as visitors of state.

[Illustration: Colonel George William Fairfax]

Belvoir was a rendezvous fo