Just one look at a photograph of Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain was done for. If he found it easy to fall in love with Olivia Langdon, he found it far more difficult to win her heart. He had to put on a tin halo and pretend to quit drinking. And as you would expect with Mark Twain, he had some choice comments about his long and painful courtship. Twain saw the photo of Olivia, an ivory miniature, in during his five-month cruise to Europe and the Holy Land.
Back on dry land, he had dinner with the Langdon family in New York City, where they were spending the Christmas holidays. Charles then invited him to visit with his family at their mansion in Elmira, N. When he finally made it to Elmira in August, he stayed three weeks. Twain knew Olivia Langdon was much too good for him.
She had wealth coal money , education and social standing. The Langdons were also abolitionists. Twain, on the other hand, had volunteered β albeit for just two weeks β with a Confederate militia during the Civil War. As his publisher put together the initial manuscript, he took to the lecture circuit telling funny stories about his travels. Somehow he found time to visit the Langdons in between stops.
He adored Olivia, but she disapproved of him. At least he was honest with her. When he asked her to marry him , she said no.
However, she said she would try to make him into a Christian. That was better than nothing, so Twain courted her mostly through letters β of them over 17 months. He started to go to church and to cut down his drinking. He is working a deception, but is not aware of it. His letters took on a meek and submissive tone, and he told Olivia and her father he needed their guidance to improve himself.
