Where are you all, Annie, Minnie?—Why don't you come and see us in Rome?
My husband bids me give you his kind regards, and I shall send Pen's love with mine to your dear girls.
Most truly yours,
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
We go to Florence in the latter part of May.
Before leaving Florence, however, the following letter was written to Mr. Thackeray, which I quote from the same article by Mrs. Ritchie. The poem alluded to must, however, be 'The North and the South,'[101] Mrs. Browning's last poem, written with reference to Hans Andersen's visit to Rome; not 'A Musical Instrument,' as Mrs. Ritchie suggests, which had been written some time previously.
To W.M. Thackeray
Rome, 126 Via Felice: [May 21, 1861].