was cut, across the little lawns inside. Here, as was only right and
proper, there was not a flower to be found save such as were mentioned
in the plays of Shakespeare; indeed it was called Shakespeare's garden,
and the bed that ran below the windows of the dining room was Ophelia's
border, for it consisted solely of those flowers which that distraught
maiden distributed to her friends when she should have been in a
lunatic asylum. Mrs Lucas often reflected how lucky it was that such
institutions were unknown in Elizabeth's day, or that, if known,
Shakespeare artistically ignored their existence. Pansies, naturally,
formed the chief decoration--though there were some very flourishing
plants of rue. Mrs Lucas always wore a little bunch of them when in
flower, to inspire her thoughts, and found them wonderfully
efficacious. Round the sundial, which was set in the middle of one of
the squares of grass between which a path of broken paving-stone led to
the front door, was a circular border, now, in July, sadly vacant, for
it harboured only the spring-flowers enumerated by Perdita. But the
first day every year when Perdita's border put forth its earliest
blossom was a delicious anniversary, and the news of it spread like
wild-fire through Mrs Lucas's kingdom, and her subjects were very
joyful, and came to salute the violet or daffodil, or whatever it was.

The three cottages dexterously transformed into The Hurst, presented a
charmingly irregular and picturesque front. Two were of the grey stone
of the district and the middle one, to the door of which led the paved
path, of brick and timber; latticed windows with stone mullions gave
little light to the room within, and certain new windows had been
added; these could be detected by the observant eye for they had a
markedly older appearance than the rest. The front-door, similarly,
seemed as if it must have been made years before the house, the fact
being that the one which Mrs Lucas had found there was too dilapidated