The Brownings’ Correspondence, Volume 13

Volume 13 describes the last hectic months of the poets’ courtship. The daily dialogue rushes along at a furious pace as marriage and Italy are more and more urgently discussed. In June comes news that EBB’s friend and sometime correspondent, B.R. Haydon, has committed suicide. He leaves a statement making known his wish that EBB edit his memoirs and other papers. This, on the advice of a lawyer, she declines to do. Then, less than two weeks before the poets’ marriage, EBB’s dog Flush is stolen, but he is recovered after she pays the ransom. The Brownings are married on 12 September in St. Marylebone Church, London. The volume closes six days later with EBB’s last letter to RB before leaving England.