It's like being part of an ex-couple after a bad breakup, I think. "He still wants me. He's sorry I left." :D

IIRC, one Holmes story involving Americans finished up with the case being solved and Holmes wanting to have a chat with one or more of the Americans on the topic of whether the US would ever rejoin the British Empire. Can't remember which case, read it years ago, but I found it amusing and eyebrow-raising at the time.