I had always regarded Europe, and London, and Paris, much as I regarded heaven.

And now could it be that I was actually going to Europe?
Such thoughts as these were constantly with me.
Two other thoughts troubled me a good deal.

I feared that people who heard that Mrs.Washington and I were going to Europe might not know all the circumstances, and might get the idea that we had become, as some might say, "stuck up," and were trying to "show off." I recalled that from my youth I had heard it said that too often, when people of my race reached any degree of success, they were inclined to unduly exalt themselves; to try and ape the wealthy, and in so doing to lose their heads.

The fear that people might think this of us haunted me a good deal.

Then, too, I could not see how my conscience would permit me to spare the time from my work and be happy.