into a less girlish and more robust complexion. He appeared
taller than he was, for he was not above medium height,
partly because of his rare grace of movement, and partly from
a characteristic high poise of the head when listening intently
to music or conversation. Even then he had that expressive wave o' the hand,
which in later years was as full of various meanings
as the `Ecco' of an Italian. A swift alertness pervaded him,
noticeable as much in the rapid change of expression,
in the deepening and illuming colours of his singularly expressive eyes,
and in his sensitive mouth, with the upper lip ever so swift
to curve or droop in response to the most fluctuant emotion,
as in his greyhound-like apprehension, which so often grasped the subject
in its entirety before its propounder himself realised its significance.
A lady, who remembers Browning at that time, has told me that his hair --
then of a brown so dark as to appear black -- was so beautiful
in its heavy sculpturesque waves as to attract frequent notice.
Another, and more subtle, personal charm was his voice,
then with a rare flute-like tone, clear, sweet, and resonant.
Afterwards, though always with precise clarity, it became
merely strong and hearty, a little too loud sometimes,
and not infrequently as that of one simulating keen immediate interest
while the attention was almost wholly detached.

Macready, in his Journal,* about a week later than the date
of his first meeting with the poet, wrote -- "Read `Paracelsus',
a work of great daring, starred with poetry of thought, feeling, and diction,
but occasionally obscure: the writer can scarcely fail
to be a leading spirit of his time." The tragedian's house,
whither he went at week-ends and on holidays, was at Elstree,
a short distance to the northward of Hampstead: and there