When they said, Poor Flush, did the naughty men
takeyou away? An hour or so later Miss Barrett came backalone. Now in Florence the
last threads of his old fetters fell from him. She hid them instantlyin the corner
of the cupboard.
Therefore when she gothome she told her brother
Henry, and Henry went to see Mr.
She was vexed; shewas worried, but she was not
seriously alarmed. He dreaded evenwalking with Wilson to the pillar-box. Browning
would havereplied to Taylor if he had had the good fortune to meet thatgentleman. He
found himself in chillnessand dampness.
Indoorshe crept closer to Miss Barrett on the sofa.
Wimpole Street was determined to make a standagainst Whitechapel. Behind Miss
Barrettsbedroom, for instance, was one of the worst slums in London.
Yet Flushwas not afraid; they were escaping; they
were leaving tyrants anddog-stealers behind them. Had the Kennel Club, then, no
jurisdiction inItaly? It was only some drunkenvoice raving in the
gutter.
All thewindows were full of faces; all the
balconies were full of figures. Miss Barrett lookedsmaller than ever sitting on a
chair by a table in the midst. Miss Barrettwatched the dazed, bewildered dirty dog,
drinking.
For there human beings swarmed ontop of each other
as rooks swarm and blacken tree-tops.
She summoned her brother Henry, and cross-examined
him.
Once he tried to gnaw a bone that was hurled his
way.
Brownings letter lying open onthe table before her,
she began to dress. The adventure wasrisky enough for a man in health. He confessed
atlast that he thought they were rather long about it, Mrs. For a moment they stood
lookinground the room.
He was the sole aristocrat among a crowdof
canaille. There was a rattling in the room andhe thought he heard Miss Mitford tying
up a bunch of geraniums.
She did believe that Taylor had left homeprecisely
on that business. Stumbling, half blinded, on legs thatstaggered, Flush was led out
into the open air.
It was only some drunkenvoice raving in the gutter.
Insects crawled in his fur, but he was too weak, too indifferent toshake his coat.
Everybody seemed to be shouting shrilly at the samemoment. Yet a majestic greyhound
was drinking greedily. He felt that he ought to tellpeople what he had seen. She was
never tired of praising Italy at the expense ofEngland.