SD2526. Sarianna Browning to Joseph Milsand
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 29, 316–317 (in part).
151, rue de Grenelle St G.
Oct. 2d [1861] [1]
My dear Mr Milsand,
This is a postscript to my last letter– I was going to send it sooner but was prevented. The accident on the Chemin de fer du Nord made me anxious to hear from Robert, who went by Boulogne and the Thames. He tells me that he had a terrible difficulty at the railway on Thursday mg on starting; the time table, though confirmed by their own officer the night before, was wrong,—they refused to take the pony till the afternoon, which would have made him miss the proper boat, and kept him at Boulogne 24 hours. The train started without him, but he exerted himself to such a degree with the officials for two hours, threatening them ‘foi d’Anglais’ with a prosecution, that they broke their rule and allowed the pony to go by the express, to the surprise of all the railway people along the line, so he arrived at the same hour at Boulogne appointed for the boat. Had he not succeeded in persuading the people to let him travel by the express, he would probably have been on the line at the time of the dreadful accident when so many lives were lost. On the journey, he was thinking much of his first visit to Paris with Ba, and Alfred Tennyson being the first english person he met. He looked out of the carriage window, and there was Tennyson[,] his wife, and two of his children; the wife looking languid but not ill. Robt pulled his hat over his eyes to avoid being recognized, and watched the whole party getting into the Folkstone boat. Robt sailed in the Thames one, and was delighted with the accommodation, and thinks it the easiest as well as the cheapest line. At Gravesend, a Custom House officer came on board to examine the luggage; and to Robt’s horror, he saw that every scrap was opened minutely. His heart ached when he thought of his own nine boxes and bags, and especially of those containing her effects, all to be opened and examined before a crowd– He asked the officer if his luggage might be examined last, who civilly replied “certainly, Sir,—most people want it examined at once.” Poor Robert watched with agony every scrap belonging to every passenger being unwrapped, and when his own turn at last came, said to the Officer, “I have had a loss, and it will be so hateful to me to have some articles here exposed, that I think I shall wait till I get to the Custom House.” The man turned and read the name on the boxes, and directly said—“Oh, Mr Browning. You have nothing I’m sure—every thing belonging to you shall pass unopened.” Robert asked “Do you know my name, then?” “Oh, yes: put all Mr Browning’s things together—let them all pass.” Was it not kind? Robert seems to have felt it deeply. He found a carriage from Arabel waiting for him, and there was an end of his travelling troubles.
I saw Mrs Corkran the other day,—no news. She gave me an article on the death of my poor sister, which I think must have been written by Miss Blagden– I don’t know. Miss Church dined with me yesterday, and I showed her, as relics, the few articles I had selected as souvenirs from Ba’s effects. She was surprised at their richness and elegance, and I found out had always pictured to herself Ba as a plainly dressed woman, superior to such trifles! fancy such a mistake! I assured her my sister had a decided taste for lace and embroidery, and all sorts of feminine elegancies. I remember Mrs Jameson giving up all hope of the regeneration of Womankind when she found Ba in flounces and crinoline; to which dearest Ba replied, it was a melancholy distinction to be separated from the rest of women only by the scantiness of one’s petticoats. You will be surprised to hear that we are off to-morrow morning to Ecouen—just for a day or two—a sudden resolution. Miss Church has been kept in Paris all the summer for want of some one to go anywhere with her, and was pining for even a single day’s holiday—so I offered our escort. Write to Paris just the same– The weather is very hot– I hope it will suit your vintage.
Be sure that I miss you horridly, and shall be delighted to see you again. I hear that the Gurneys have been in England. I have been buying a carpet—english Brussels.
Ever yours truly,
Sarianna Browning.
I sent another Ath: yesterday.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library, Joseph Milsand Archive.
1. Year provided by reference to EBB’s death.
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