[Manchester—Friday, 4 August 1876]

August 4th Fresh, glorious, morning. Imogen leaves us after being here one month save one day. Nelly is a strange child and but small joy to her mother who cannot make her obey and surely small joy to anybody else except her husband of 8 years old who accompanied her in his blue stockings gallantly to the station. Miss Anne Whitney and I lay on the rocks and talked and walked until noon. Mrs Batchelder and 2 shipwrecked friends put in here for harbor.

In the afternoon we read a new poem by Swinburne called The Deserted Garden and a magnificent drift of poems by Browning. He knows no peer. As Miss Whitney read, her noble face breaking into soft curves and lovely smiles when the waves of music touched her, I thought I had seldom seen so noble and beautiful a creature. She has so much power and has needed to bring it to the front so firmly, to sustain herself in the bold career that one sometimes loses sight utterly of the sweetness which is really hers.


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