I was fain to thank heaven when, immediately after the termination
of the meal, Ibsen rose, bowed to his host, and bade me express
his thanks for the entertainment. Out on the Grand Canal, in the
gondola which had again been placed at our disposal, his passion
for "documents" that might bear on his work was quickly manifested.
He asked me whether Herr Browning had ever married. Receiving an
emphatically affirmative reply, he inquired whether Fru Browning had
been happy. Loth though I was to cast a blight on his interest in the
matter, I conveyed to him with all possible directness the impression
that Elizabeth Barrett had assuredly been one of those wives who do
not dance tarantellas nor slam front-doors. He did not, to the best
of my recollection, make further mention of Browning, either then or
afterwards. Browning himself, however, thanked me warmly, next
day, for having introduced my friend to him. "A capital fellow!" he
exclaimed, and then, for a moment, seemed as though he were about
to qualify this estimate, but ended by merely repeating "A capital
fellow!"
Ibsen remained in Venice some weeks after my return to London. He was,
it may be conjectured, bent on a specially close study of the Bride of
the Adriatic because her marriage had been not altogether a happy one.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107