regshoe

I would love to check the 1921 text against the original 1876 serialization and see if those lines are in the original, or if they're later interpolations, but ALAS the relevant issues of The Atlantic are not online.

Howells lived in Venice as American consul during the Civil War, so he was well aware that Venetian men, at least, were allowed to kiss and embrace their friends! There's a scene in A Foregone Conclusion in which a dying Venetian priest kisses his frenemy the American consul, Ferris: "He took Ferris’s hand, hanging weak and hot by his side, and drew him gently down by it, and kissed him on either bearded cheek. 'It is our custom, you know, among friends. Farewell.'"

The emphasis on friends is in the original, and I think it refers to the fact that the priest doesn't think the consul has lived up to their friendship. (And yes, Howells absolutely DID straight up give a character his own old job. In fact, he refers to Ferris as "one of my many predecessors in office at Venice.")