The truth was that Browning had a great many admirably Philistine feelings, and one of them was a great relish for his responsibilities towards his wife.

He enjoyed being a husband.

This is quite a distinct thing from enjoying being a lover, though it will scarcely be found apart from it.

But, like all good feelings, it has its possible exaggerations, and one of them is this almost morbid healthiness in the choice of friends for his wife.
David Home, the medium, came to Florence about 1857.

Mrs.Browning undoubtedly threw herself into psychical experiments with great ardour at first, and Browning, equally undoubtedly, opposed, and at length forbade, the enterprise.