Page 8 (1/1)

She stood at the five roads, swinging her stick, undecided

The long line of the beeches drew her, their heads bowed to the north as the south wind had driven the; between broad green borders under grey walls

She walked She could feel joy breaking loose in her again, beating up and up, provoked and appeased by the strong, quick one to her lover for, the pure joy he couldn't give her, co ht and hard and you could feel the ripple and thrill of the ain She wouldn't have to think of any other o on and on like this, by herself, without even Gwinnie; not caring a damn

If she had been cruel--if she had wanted to hurt Effie She hadn't s Places she had been happy in She loved the high open country Fancy sitting with Gibson in his stuffy office, day after day, for five years Fancy going to Glasgoith hiht: "I can pretend it didn't happen Nothing's happened I'm myself The same me I was before"

Suddenly she stood still On the top of the ridge the whole sky opened, throbbing with light, immense as the sky above a plain Hills--thousands of hills Thousands of sether

What did you want? What did you want? How could you want anything but this for ever?

Across the green field she saw the far up in a row before the sallow ricks and long grey barns Under the loaded droop of green a grey sharp-pointed gable, topped by a stone ball Four Scotch firs beside it, slender and strange

She stood leaning over the white gate, looking and thinking

Funny things, colts grazing Short bodies that stopped at their shoulders; long, long necks hanging down like tails, pushing their heads along the ground She could hear their nostrils breathing and the scrinch, scrinch of their teeth tearing the grass

You could be happy living on a far People paid

Suddenly she knehat she would do She would do that It wasn't reasonable to go on sitting in a stuffy office doing work you hated when you could pack up and go She couldn't have stuck to it for five years if it hadn't been for Gibson--falling in love with hi of all She didn't care if you had to pay to learn far you learned There were the two hundred pounds poor dear Daddy left, doing nothing She could pay