osophy amplified that
is found in the words of Jesus, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

The Brownings remained till late in the summer in their Casa Guidi home,
detained at first by the illness of Mrs. Browning, after which they
decided to postpone going to England until another year. In the late
summer they went for a few weeks to Siena, where, two miles outside the
walls, they found a seven-roomed villa with a garden and vineyard and
olive orchard, and "a magnificent view of a noble sweep of country,
undulating hills and verdure, and on one side the great Maremma extending
to the foot of the Roman mountains." They were located on a little hill
called Poggia dei venti, with all the winds of the heavens, indeed,
blowing about them, and with overflowing quantities of milk and bread and
wine, and a loggia at the top of the villa. Mrs. Browning found herself
rapidly recovering strength, and their comfort was further extended by
finding a library in Siena, where, for three francs a month, they had
access to the limited store of books which seem so luxurious in Italy. The
boy Browning was delighted with his new surroundings, his sole infelicity
being his inability to reach the grapes clustering over the trellises; he
missed the Austrian band that made music (or noise) for his delectation in
Florence, although to compensate for this privation he himself sang
louder than ever. In after years Mr. Browning laughingly related this
anecdote of his son's childhood: "I was one day playing a delicate piece
of Chopin's on the piano, and hearing a loud noise outside, hastily
stopped playing when my little boy ran in, and my wife exclaimed: 'How
could you leave off playing when Penini brought three drums to accompany
you?'"

For all this bloom and beauty in Siena they paid a little less than
fifteen francs a week. Soon after their arrival they learned of the
shipwreck in which the Marchese and Marchesa d'Ossoli and the little
Angelino all perished, and the tragedy deeply impressed Mrs. Browning.
"The work that the Marchesa was preparing upon Italy would have been more
equal to her faculties than anything she has ever produced," said Mrs.
Browning, "her other writings being curiously inferior to the impression
made by her conversation."

Before returning to Florence the Brownings passed a week in the town of
Siena to visit the pictures and churches, but they f