" To H.S. Boyd
Monday, September 19, 1843. My own dear Friend, — I should have written instantly to explain myself out of appearances which did me injustice, only I have been in such distress as to have no courage for writing. Flush was stolen away, and for three days I could neither sleep nor eat, nor do anything much more rational than cry. "

― Elizabeth Barrett Browning , Complete Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning