She stepped over the threshold of the window on to the terrace. In
front of her the lawn stretched to a hedge; on the far side of that
hedge a couple of grass fields lifted and fell in gentle undulations;
and beyond the fields she could see amongst a cluster of trees the smoke
from the chimneys of Colonel Durrance's house. She stood for a little
while hesitating upon the terrace. On the left the lawn ran down to a
line of tall beeches and oaks which fringed the creek. But a broad space
had been cleared to make a gap upon the bank, so that Ethne could see
the sunlight on the water and the wooded slope on the farther side, and
a sailing-boat some way down the creek tacking slowly against the light
wind. Ethne looked about her, as though she was summoning her resources,
and even composing her sentences ready for delivery to the man who was
walking steadily towards her across the lawn. If there was hesitation
upon her part, there was none at all, she noticed, on the part of the
blind man. It seemed that Durrance's eyes took in the path which his
feet trod, and with the stick which he carried in his hand he switched
at the blades of grass like one that carries it from habit rather than
for any use.
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