Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Cheerful Yesterdays

We seated ourselves at table, Mrs. Stowe at Lowell's right, and Miss Prescott at Holmes's, I next to her, Edmund Quincy next to me. Dr. Stowe was at Holmes's left, Whittier at his; and Longfellow, Underwood, John Wyman, and others were present. I said at once to Miss Prescott, “This is a new edition of ‘Evelina, or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World.’ Begin at the beginning: what did you and Mrs. Stowe talk about for three quarters of an hour?” She answered demurely, “Nothing, except that she once asked me what o'clock it was, and I told her I did n't know.” There could hardly be a better illustration of that curious mixture of mauvaise honte and indifference which often marred the outward manners of that remarkable woman. It is very likely that she had not been introduced to her companion, and perhaps had never heard her name; but imagine any kindly or gracious person of middle age making no effort to relieve the shyness of a young girl stranded with herself during three quarters of an hour of enforced seclusion!

The modest entertainment proceeded; conversation set in, but there was a visible awkwardness, partly from the presence of two