"My friendly hosts remonstrated on my departure, as they had requested me to make them a long visit; and 'I never say what I do not mean,' said the Duke, in an honest way. And when I thanked him for his hospitable welcome, 'It is no more,' he said, 'than you should meet in every house in England.' That was hearty." The letters written by Prescott while in Europe are marked also by evidences of the beautiful affection which he cherished for his wife, of whom he once said, many years after their marriage: "Contrary to the assertion of La Bruyère--who somewhere says that the most fortunate husband finds reason to regret his condition at least once in twenty-four hours--I may truly say that I have found no such day in the quarter of a century that Providence has spared us to each other." In the letters written by him during this English visit, there remain, even after the ruthless editing done by Ticknor, passages that are touching in their unaffected tenderness. Thus, from London, June 14, 1850:-- "Why have I no letter on my table from home? I trust I shall find one there this evening, or I shall, after all, have a heavy heart, which is far from gay in this gayety." And the following from Antwerp, July 23, 1850:-- "Dear Susan, I never see anything beautiful in nature or art, or hear heart-stirring music in the churches--the only place where music does stir my heart--without thinking of you and wishing you could be by my side, if only for a moment."