Neck relief it was to get away from that house and into the open air. It was one of those warm shining days that come occasionally winter after @ night of heavy rain, with a bright sur prising sun and no breath of wind. Bare trees seemed beaut ful in the sunlight, water still dripping from the branches, and wet places all around were sparkling with diamonds. The sky had small faint clouds. “What a lovely day!" *Yes~len'tita lovely day!” We spoke hardiy another word during the walk; it wasn't necessary. But he took me everywhere and I saw it all ~ the huge chess-men and all the rest of the topiary. The elaborate garden houses, the pools, the fountains, the children's maze Whose hedges were hornbeam and lime so that it was only good jn summer when the leaves were out, and the parterres, the rockeries, the greenhouses with their vines and nectarine trees ‘And of course, the sculpture. Most of the contemporary European sculptors were there, in bronze, granite, limestone, ‘and wood: and although it was a pleasure to see them warming fand glowing in the sun, to me they still looked a trifle out of e vast formal surrounding. place in th “Shall we rest here now a litle while?’ Sir Basil said after wwe had walked for more than an hour. So we sat down on 2 white bench beside.a waterlily pond full of earp and goldfish, lind lit cigarettes. We were some way from the house, on a ieee of ground that was raised above its surroundings, and From where we sat the gardens were spread out below us like f drawing in one of those old books on garden architecture, with the hedges and layns and terraces and fountains making fa pretty pattern of squaresand rings. "My father bought thie place just before T was born,” Sir sil said, ‘I've lived here ever since, and I know every inch of it Each day [grow to love it more’ Tunmust be wonderful in summer.” ‘Oh, but itis. You should come down and see it in May and June, Will you promiseto do that?” “Of course, I said, 1'd love to come,” and watching the figure of a woman dressed in red moving among as I spoke I was us [ a Neck the flower-beds in the far distance. I saw her cross over a wide fxpanse of lawn, and there was a lilt in her walk, a little Shadow attending her, and when she was over the lawn, she fumed left and went along one side of a high wall of clipped yew until she came to another smaller Tawn that was creular Zand had in its centre a piece of sculpture. This garden is younger than the house,’ Sir Basil said. ‘Tt was laid out early in the eighteenth century by a Frenchman falled Beaumont, the same fellow whe did Levens, in West morland, For at least a year be had two hundred and fifty men working on it” "The woman in the fed dress had been joined now by a man, and they were standing face to face, about a yard apart, in the wery centre of the whole garden panorama, on this little circular patch of lavin, apparently conversing. The man had some small black object in his hand. ‘If you're interested, 1 show you the bills that Beaumont put into the old Duke while he was making it” ‘Wid like very much to see them. They must be fascinating,’ “Hee paid his labourers a shilling a day and they worked ten ours. Tin the clear sunlight it was not difficult to follow the move ments and pestures of the two figures on the Tawn, ‘They had turhed now towards the piece of sculpture, and were pointing avit ina sort of mocking way, apparently laughing and making, jokes about its shape. I recognized it as being one of the Henry Moores, done in wood, a thin smooth object of singular beauty that had two or three holes init and a number of strange limbs protruding. “When Beaumont planted the yew trees for t and the other things, he knew they wouldn't amount to much for at least a hundred years. We don't seem to possess that sort pf patience in our planning these days, do we? What do you think?” “No, said, We don't? The black object in the man’s hand turned out to be a ceamera, and now he had stepped back and was taking pictures of the woman beside the Henry Moore, She was striking @ 4s hess-men,