SD1371. Journal Entry of Elizabeth Cranch
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 15, 364–365 (in part).
[Florence]
[mid-March 1849]
After a proper length of time I decided to call and inquire for Mrs. Browning. I rang the doorbell at the Casa Guidi, when Browning himself came to the door, and seeing who it was, said, in his heartiest tones, “Mrs. Cranch, come right in!” and as he said this he drew me into the house with both hands. As there was no refusing him, I consented to let him ask the nurse if I could see the baby, to which answer was brought in the affirmative. I entered a darkened room, and there lay Mrs. Browning, looking like an angel, with her sweet gray eyes and profusion of dark curls. I kissed her hand and murmured some kind wish for her health, while Browning, eager to show me the little blossom, drew me to a corner covered with white muslin and pink curtains, saying, “Now, you must see the baby!”
I gazed into this bower of rose-color and lace, unable to distinguish anything beside the soft color and dainty fabric. But something must be said, so I murmured, “How beautiful!” But Browning was not to be put off in this way.
“Do you see him?” said he.
“No, truly,” I was forced to answer.
He then went and brought a cerina, a little wax taper, and by its soft, flickering light, I was at last able to behold the Browning baby.
Text: Leonora Cranch Scott, Life and Letters of Christopher Pearse Cranch (Boston, 1917), p. 162.
___________________
