[Florence—Monday, 6 February 1860]
Monday 6th Lissie went to Mrs Chapman’s. Went to see the altar by Orgagna [sic, for Orcagna] in San Michele. Mr Trollope in the evening. Their house is one of the most beautiful modernised antique residences I ever saw. The stair-case would have stabbed the great Goethe with envy and the library thrown into despair the hugest cormorant of books. The room too is the very abode of Coolness and Solitude so inviting to the student-heart. It opens too upon a delicious terrace leading into the garden from which one can sniff the orange blossoms and jasmine. The fire-side was pleasant enough coming in from the freshness of evening. There I had an interesting talk with Mr Jarves a man of suffering and heroism. A spiritualist also.
