II-II

It was his own home to which he returned, the
original dwelling of the Makimmons in Greenstream.
He could not, he had told Lettice, be
comfortable anywhere else; he could not be content
with it closed against the living sound of the stream,
or in strange hands. Some changes had been made
since his marriage -- another space had been enclosed
beyond the kitchen, a chamber occupied by
Sim Caley and his wife, moved from the outlying
farm where Lettice had spent her weeks of "retreat"
throughout the passing summers. The exterior
had been painted leaden-grey, and a shed
transformed into a small, serviceable stable. But
the immediate surroundings were the same: the
primitive sweep still rose from the well, a cow still
grazed in the dank grass; the stream slipped by, mirroring
its stable banks, the foliage inexhaustibly replenished
by nature; beyond the narrow valley the
mountain range shut out the rising sun, closed
Greenstream into its deep, verdurous gorge.

High above, the veil of light was still rosy, but it
was dusk about Gordon Makimmon's dwelling.

[[160]]

p159 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p160w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p161

v?