I had not gone two hundred paces along the path, however, before
I heard the tread of a horse behind me, and I had just time to
hide myself before Madame came up and rode by me, sitting her
horse gracefully, and with all the courage of a northern woman.
I watched her pass, and then, assured by her presence that I was
in the right road, I hurried after her. Two minutes walking at
speed brought me to a light wooden bridge spanning a stream. I
crossed this, and, as the wood opened, saw before me first a
wide, pleasant meadow, and beyond this a terrace. On the
terrace, pressed upon on three sides by thick woods, stood a grey
mansion, with the corner tourelles, steep, high roofs, and round
balconies, that men loved and built in the days of the first
Francis.
It was of good size, but wore a gloomy aspect. A great yew
hedge, which seemed to enclose a walk or bowling-green, hid the
ground floor of the east wing from view, while a formal rose
garden, stiff even in neglect, lay in front of the main building.
The west wing, of which the lower roofs fell gradually away to
the woods, probably contained the stables and granaries.
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