that the Marsala, with which it was more than flavoured, was nothing
but vinegar. La Martina never forgot that when she looked in to see
how things were going, he was pretending to lick the dish clean.
These journeys provided the material for a book which he thought of
calling "Verdi Prati," after one of Handel's most beautiful songs;
but he changed his mind, and it appeared at the end of 1881 as Alps
and Sanctuaries of Piedmont and the Canton Ticino with more than
eighty illustrations, nearly all by Butler. Charles Gogin made an
etching for the frontispiece, drew some of the pictures, and put
figures into others; half a dozen are mine. They were all redrawn
in ink from sketches made on the spot, in oil, water-colour, and
pencil. There were also many illustrations of another kind--
extracts from Handel's music, each chosen because Butler thought it
suitable to the spirit of the scene he wished to bring before the
reader. The introduction concludes with these words: "I have
chosen Italy as my second country, and would dedicate this book to
her as a thank-offering for the happiness she has afforded me."

In the spring of 1883 he began to compose music, and in 1885 we
published together an album of minuets, gavottes, and fugues. This
led to our writing Narcissus, which is an Oratorio Buffo in the
Handelian manner--that is as nearly so as we could make it. It is a
mistake to suppose that all Handel's oratorios are upon sacred
subjects; some of them are secular. And not only so, but, whatever
the subject, Handel was never at a loss in treating anything that
came into his words by way of allusion or illustration. As Butler
puts it in one of his sonnets:

He who gave eyes to ears and showed in sound
All thoughts and things in earth or heaven above--