Although this enchanting story is a work of fiction, it has strong echoes of Kipling’s own life. It concerns a motorist, driving across Sussex in the summer time, who loses his way and arrives at a stately old house, with a garden beautiful with lawns, ancient yew trees, and a fountain. The description of the great adzed wagon-wide staircase, the deep fireplace, the age-polished dusky panels, the mullions of the broad windows, the old eagle-topped convex mirror, and the black and white floor, is closely similar to Bateman’s.
This rare first edition copy is in relatively good condition but one of the plate pages has come loose from the spine.