In the morning, Jenny’s concert was the only subject anyone in the city wanted to talk about, and even Barnum’s competitors and critics were forced to admit that he had scored an unprecedented coup. Privately, two Wall Street syndicates sent Barnum word that they were interested in buying Jenny Lind’s contract. But it was nothing doing, as he told Jenny before leaving for the train for Bridgeport, Connecticut. This new scene was played on the sofa in Jenny’s suite in the Irving House, accompanied by much sweet, passionate kissing. Here was a man! She knew she had said that far too many times in the past, about Lindblad, Mendelssohn, and even her English officer, but it applied to Barnum more than it had ever applied to any of the others. Barnum was quick-witted and charming; he made her laugh. He did not moon or mope or press his case even when she was most eager for him to do so, always making a game of their feelings for each other. Without doubt he knew he was intensifying those feelings.
