made frequent expeditions,
staying there through the night in order to hear the midnight mass. Miss
Browning also once attempted the visit, but was not allowed to enter the
monastery. She slept in the adjoining convent.

The brother and sister were again at the Universo in 1879, 1880, and
1881; but the crash was rapidly approaching, and soon afterwards it
came. The old Palazzo passed into other hands, and after a short period
of private ownership was consigned to the purposes of an Art Gallery.

In 1880, however, they had been introduced by Mrs. Story to an American
resident, Mrs. Arthur Bronson, and entered into most friendly
relations with her; and when, after a year's interval, they were again
contemplating an autumn in Venice, she placed at their disposal a suite
of rooms in the Palazzo Giustiniani Recanati, which formed a supplement
to her own house--making the offer with a kindly urgency which forbade
all thought of declining it. They inhabited these for a second time in
1885, keeping house for themselves in the simple but comfortable foreign
manner they both so well enjoyed, only dining and spending the evening
with their friend. But when, in 1888, they were going, as they thought,
to repeat the arrangement, they found, to their surprise, a little
apartment prepared for them under Mrs. Bronson's own roof. This act
of hospitality involved a special kindness on her part, of which Mr.
Browning only became aware at the close of a prolonged stay; and a sense
of increased gratitude added itself to the affectionate regard with
which his hostess had already inspired both his sister and him. So
far as he is concerned, the fact need only be indicated. It is fully
expressed in the preface to 'Asolando'.

During the first and fresher period of Mr. Browning's visits to Venice,
he found a passing attraction in its society. It held an historical
element which harmonized well with the decayed magnificence of the city,
its old-world repose, and the comparatively simple modes of intercourse
still prevailing there. Mrs. Bronson's 'salon' was hospitably open
whenever her health allowed; but her natural refinement, and the
conservatism which so strongly marks the higher class of Americans,
preserved it from the heterogeneous character which Anglo-foreign
sociability so often assumes. Very interesting, even important names
lent their prestige to her circle; and those of Don Carlos and his
family, of Prince and Princess Iturbide, of