Dornford Yates

“ Lettice Longwood was a very hard case....
When Spenser came for his dance, he entered the field of observation and was curiously observed. People saw a tall well-built man, with the colour of health in his face, and hair that every woman would like to possess: a man with a pleasant manner, though something grave, with wide-set, steady grey eyes, a firm but kindly mouth and a resolute chin. They imagined, no doubt, that he was suppressing his pride. As a matter of fact, he was thinking of Piétat. ”

“ She's accustomed to adoration. If Rufus didn't adore her, she'd be amazed. She's behaving quite normally and perfectly well. So is Rufus. In loving her he's doing the natural thing. The tragedy of it is—he isn't a Gadarene. He leads a life that matters immensely to him. The consequence is that her coming into that life is a terrific affair. ”

“ Some twelve hours later the serviceable car came to rest under the shadow of the Piétat oaks.
Miss Longwood alighted stiffly, to be received by a rout of Spaniel puppies, whose affection outran respect.
Before Spenser could come to her rescue, she had two of them in her arms.
"Hermits aren't allowed dogs," she said, "or places like this."
"They'll make you all dirty," said Spenser. ”

“ Let me lie quiet for a moment, and then we'll go back to the house."
Not knowing what else to do, Spenser sat down by her side and stared at the tops of the oaks, showing over the wall.
So for, perhaps, two minutes.
Then—
"I know," said the girl. "I remember. It's straight out of Aesop's Fables, this pretty place. The rooster and the well and the puppies and the cool of the little old house—they all fit in. And I'm sure the old pictures talk when they're left alone."
"They'll have something to say to-night," said William Red Spenser. ”

“ Nobody likes to see a good friend go down. Yet, they need not have been so dismayed. if Spenser had lost his heart, he had kept his head. The man was desperately in love, but he had counted the cost and was fully prepared to pay, when the moment came. He knew that 'the Longwood girl' was out of his reach. He knew that Piétat appealed to her, was sure she liked its master, hoped she would remember them both. But that was all. Aesop must stick to his fable, and she to her film. ”

“ But they wouldn't suit Rufus. He buries himself alive, but he doesn't go rough."
This was most true.
When Spenser emerged from his kingdom,, he might have stepped out of his Club. Beyond a certain gravity of manner, solitude and simplicity left no mark upon the man. A handsome villa at Biarritz brought the Pomeroys thither twice in the year. When Spenser visited them, his clothes were faultless and his address was superb. As he danced at the Casino, nobody would have dreamed that his heart was in a fold of the foot-hills forty miles off. ”

“ Few tried to force an entry—she had the reputation of being unusually wise. Such as did try were lazily cross-examined and contemptuously dismissed. Occasionally a fool would believe that he had found favour in her eyes: his fall was invariably great. ”

“ The ox could rebuke him."
"But not for indolence," said Spenser. "The trouble is I'm not in the picture myself. I should be a husbandman."
"You're near enough," said Miss Longwood. "Besides, Aesop wrote. But you will have some bees, won't you? Hullo, I believe they've found."
The Spanish youths at the well were speaking their father below. As the two came up to the wall, they pulled off their caps.
"My father can smell water," said the elder. "He has found a great stone and he says it must be beneath that."
"Lift me over," said the girl. "I want to be in at the death." ”

“ It's the most perfect thing. How do you think I'll feel, if I think that I've spoiled it all?"
"You've made it, my lady," said Spenser. "I was fond of it for itself, but now I shall love it because it has been your setting and because you liked it so well. I'll have to pay, of course. One always does. But I wouldn't go back. And now that I've got your picture..."
The girl braced herself.
"I've been very happy, Aesop. But then you know that."
Spenser put a hand to his head.
"I—I hoped you had. Piétat's a change—something different. You've found it refreshing, after—the fun of the film." ”

“ Less than two feet of water, instead of the normal six. There had always been six—always, no matter how much you drew. And this was July. Once the spring began failing, it would not rise again till the end of the year. If the drought were to end to-morrow, twenty inches of water would have to meet Piétat's needs for the next four months. Well, that would do—well enough. But, if the drought did not break, in another month the well would be dry as a bone. And then...
Spenser thought of his garden, his house, his handful of sheep ”