was not Mrs. Green's
affair.

American commerce still existed in 1853, and the Liverpool consulate was
supposed to have more money in it than any other office in the gift
of the administration. As a matter of fact, several of my father's
predecessors had retired from their tenure of office with something
handsome (pecuniarily speaking) to their credit; whether the means by
which it had been acquired were as handsome is another question. Be
that as it may, Congress, soon after my father's accession, passed a
law cutting down the profits about three-fourths, and he was obliged to
practise the strictest economy during his residence abroad in order to
come home with a few thousand dollars in his pocket. Nevertheless, the
dignity, in the official sense, of this consular post was considerable,
and it brought him, in combination with his literary fame, a good deal
more attention in England than he well knew what to do with. But, in one
way or another, he also made friends there who remained to the end among
the dearest of his life and more than countervailed all the time and
energy wasted on the Philistines.

The Atlantic, all the way across, with the exception of one brief
emotional disturbance between lunch and dinner-time, wore a smile of
fatuous serenity. The sun shone; the vast pond-surface oilily undulated,
or lay in absolute flatness, or at most defiled under our eyes in
endless squadrons of low-riding crests. My mother, whose last experience
of sea-ways had been the voyage to Cuba, in which the ship was all but
lost in a series of hurricanes, was captivated by this soft behavior,
and enjoyed the whole of it as much, almost, as her husband, who
expanded and drank in delight like a plant in the rain. But, in truth,
these must have been blessed hours for them both. Behind them lay nearly
eleven years of married life, spent in narrow outward circumstances,
lightened only towards the last by the promise of some relaxation from
strain, during which they had found their happiness in each other, and
in the wise and tender care of their children, and in the converse of
chosen friends. They had filled their minds with knowledge concerning
the beauties and interests of foreign lands, with but a slender
expectation of ever beholding them with bodily sight, but none the less
well prepared to understand and appreciate them should the opportunity
arrive. And now, suddenly, it had arrived, and they were on the way to
the regions of