A letter of introduction to her had been obtained from Mazzini.

"Ah, I am so vexed about George Sand," Mrs Browning wrote on Christmas Eve; "she came, she has gone, and we haven't met." In February she again was known to be for a few days in Paris; Browning was not eager to push through difficulties on the chance of obtaining an interview, but his wife was all impatience: "' No,' said I, 'you _shan't_ be proud, and I _won't_ be proud, and we _will_ see her.

I won't die, if I can help it, without seeing George Sand.'" A gracious reply and an appointment came in response to their joint-petition which accompanied Mazzini's letter.

On the appointed Sunday Browning and Mrs Browning--she wearing a respirator and smothered in furs--drove to render their thanks and homage to the most illustrious of Frenchwomen.
Mrs Browning with beating heart stooped and kissed her hand.

They found in George Sand's face no sweetness, but great moral and intellectual capacities; in manners and conversation she was absolutely simple.