He was a pragmatic diplomat fascinated by distant cultures. She was a young socialite passionate about people and places. Together they lived life to the full. This first published account of their lives unveils Truxtun and Marie Beale's adventures in Persia, Greece, Russia, South America and other places around the world; their dramatic courtship in California; their political and social antics in Washington, DC; and their retirement to Annapolis, MD. Journey with the Beales from Truxtun's birth in 1856 to Marie's death in 1956. You will be impressed by their disregard for useless conventions, good-natured self-sufficiency, intellectual curiosity, and kind and sensitive generosity.