On returning from such careers on horseback little inclination, although he had his solitary room in which to work, remained for the pursuit of poetry.
The departure for Rome was early--about September; in the Via Felice rooms were found.

A new and great sorrow had fallen upon Mrs Browning--her sister Henrietta, Mrs Surtees Cook, was dead, leaving behind her three young children.

Mrs Browning could not shed tears nor speak of her grief: she felt tired and beaten by the pain; and tried to persuade herself that for one who believed the invisible world to be so near, such pain was but a weakness.

Her husband was able to do little, but he shared in his degree in the sense of loss, and protected her from the intrusion of untimely visitors.

Sir John Bowring was admitted because he presented a letter of introduction and had intimate relations with the French Emperor; his ridicule of the volunteer movement in England, with its cry of "Riflemen, form!" was grateful to Mrs Browning's political feelings.