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In the ungrazed pastures swaths of dead stuff caught their feet, and the ground beneath glistened with sweat. At the bottom of the valley a little brook had undermined its footbridge, and frothed in the wreckage. But there stood great woods on the slopes beyond—old, tall, and brilliant, like unfaded tapestries against the walls of a ruined house. |
This is from “An habitation enforced””. Collected in Actions and Reactions. George Chapin, a successful young American businessman has had a breakdown from overwork. As a rest cure he and his wife Sophie embark on a round of sightseeing in Europe. In London a friend sends them to a farm in deepest Sussex, to see the ‘real England’’ Here they are exploring, out in unkempt fields,. Further on they happen on a beautiful old house, the centre of a neglected estate. Later Sophie finds that her forebears had come from that very place. They decide to settle down there, taking on the traditional responsibilities of English landowners, and begin a new life. The place has reclaimed its own. |
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