June 23 Thursday – Sam spent the day with Frederick J. Hall looking over Webster & Co. Sam had written to Hall back on June 11, asking for help to keep away from reporters. The less publicity about his arrival the better. Evidently these efforts were not successful, for the Brooklyn Eagle, Jun. 23, 1892, p.4 under “Personal Mention” included, “Mark Twain has returned from Europe.” The New York Times ran a paragraph of passengers on p.8, “Arrived on the Havel,” which led off with,

Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) was a passenger on the North German Lloyd steamship Havel, which arrived yesterday from Bremen.

In Bad Nauheim, Livy wrote to Sam in care of her brother in Elmira, though the letter would not reach there until July 7 after Sam had sailed for Europe:

I am going, Youth Darling, to send you a letter care of Charley thinking it may reach you there. I have just sent off a letter of Jean’s to New York.

How I hope that things will go prosperously and well for you. I hope when this reaches you that you will have had a satisfactory time with Paige. Wouldn’t it be glorious if you arranged things in such a way that you could come back feeling at rest about it all. If you should get anything especially good I hope you will telegraph me.

The wind is at last blowing and I hope that will drive away the clouds and we shall get better weather. This morning I had to go to my bath in a hard rain. And yesterday Jean and I were detained at the Dr’s by a heavy thunderstorm. Jean’s toe has been so troublesome that I thought it was better for the Dr. to take a look at it. He was very nice with her & told us just what to do for it, and evidently felt that it was wise that we went to him. I like him so very much that I can not but feel glad that you took the matter into your hands and changed doctors.

Jean is the dearest, sweetest little girl in the world. We do have most delightful times together.

I can not but fear that something will happen either before we go to the villa or during our time there because I look forward to the life there with such enthusiastic anticipation. It is bad to look forward to a thing so it may all go badly …..

I do wonder if Joe & Harmony are on this side. Do write me about them as soon as you can. I dreamed last night that they were here. I had a nice letter from Prof. Fiske. He had a letter from Prof. Lounsbury saying when we should sail but saying nothing about the Twichells. With deepest love, …[The Twainian, Nov.-Dec. 1977 p1].