Coming Home [antikvár]

'Is ​this it?' Judith asked. 'Yes. This is it. Nancherrow. Are you feeling nervous?' Diana asked. 'We always used to call it avenue fever. That sinking feeling when you're coming somewhere new. Don't worry, it's not a bit frightening. No spooks. Just the most wonderful home that we all adore.' And when they came at last to Nancherrow, Judith saw exactly what she meant. It was built of local granite, and slate-roofed, with long windows on the two floors, and a line of dormer windows above these. It stood back, beyond a carriage sweep of pale sea-pebbles, and its eastern wall was smothered with clematis and climbing roses. The front door was set in the round tower, castellated at its top like some Norman keep, and all about stretched green lawns, spreading vistas of shrub and woodland, ornamental flower-beds, and yellow and purple carpets of daffodils and crocus. To the south, which was the front of the house, these lawns took the form of terraces, bisected by flights of stone steps. In the distance could be glimpsed the blue horizon, and the sea. From that very first moment, Judith fell in love with Nancherrow.