AUGUST 143 



July suns ; they cover all the tree, till 

 gently they shimmer down and lie still 

 upon the turf. Not a branch or a twig, 

 scarcely even one green leaf, strays out 

 amid the lightness of these plumes of 

 marabout to break their dim monotony. 

 This plumage of the tree is sunny red, 

 cooled with grey or lilac shadows. Ever 

 since June has it been ripening into this 

 miracle of misty beauty. The lawns are 

 burnt, but the parterre is formal and 

 brilliant just as it should be. So are 

 the zig-zags of verbena and Pelargoniums 

 beyond the yew hedges. The southern 

 wall is fragrantly overhung with festooned 

 clematis. But all these are quickly 

 passed by. I long to know all's well with 

 the Fantaisie and the Boccage. Ah ! the 

 sweet pea hedge round the tennis-lawn 

 is gone and past. Turn - cap Lilies, 

 proudly splendid, replace the roses of 

 the Fantaisie. The cryptomeria elegans, 

 intermingling here with verdure of won- 

 derful freshness, seem to rejoice in the 

 dry weather, and fair flowers of deep 

 blue salvia begin to blow. 



