[3] William T. Barry, who later served as Postmaster General, wrote "of a charming little girl...who very frequently plays the piano, and entertains us with agreeable songs."

This caused Jackson to transfer his favor to widower Martin Van Buren, the Secretary of State, who had taken the Eatons' side and shown positive social attention to Margaret.

Van Buren helped end the Petticoat Affair by resigning, which gave Jackson the ability to remove his anti-Eaton cabinet members.

Historian John F. Marszalek explained his view of the real reasons Washington society found Margaret unacceptable: She did not know her place; she forthrightly spoke up about anything that came to her mind, even topics of which women were supposed to be ignorant.

Accept this uncouth, impure, forward, worldly woman, and the wall of virtue and morality would be breached and society would have no further defenses against the forces of frightening change.

In a memoir published long after her death, Margaret admitted to the accuracy of some of the characterizations of her: "The fact is, I never had a lover who was not a gentleman and was not in a good position in society."

Refusing to defend herself directly, Margaret Eaton expressed her opinion of her critics this way: "I was quite as independent as they, and had more powerful friends...None of them had beauty, accomplishments or graces in society of any kind, and for these reasons...they were jealous of me."

While I do not pretend to be a saint, and do not think I was ever very much stocked with sense, and lay no claim to be a model woman in any way, I put it to the candor of the world whether the slanders which have been uttered against me are to be believed."

Three years after the death of her second husband, Margaret Eaton married Antonio Gabriele Buchignani, an Italian music teacher and dancing master, on June 7, 1859.