xxin LETTERS TO MARCO 151 



rooms were nice old fourpost bedsteads with 

 simple countrified chairs and tables, every- 

 thing clean, cared for, and comfortable ; there 

 was throughout an utter absence of the over- 

 done modern aesthetic affectation. Morris 

 took us up into the attics, where he delighted 

 in descanting on the splendid old woodwork 

 displayed in the trussing and staying of the 

 roof- timbers. He had just finished his 

 supper, which, hungry as we were, looked 

 extremely good, and begged us to stay and 

 have some ; but as it was getting late, and I 

 had ordered chops at the inn, we had to 

 hurry off. We paid a visit to the garden, 

 which was kept up with the same skill and 

 taste ; the whole was fragrant with lavender 

 and the scent of the newly -clipped box 

 hedges ; the paths were very neat, and on 

 one hedge, a dipt yew, was the form of a 

 dragon, which Morris had amused himself 

 by gradually developing with the clippers. 



Miss Morris gave my wife a rose of so 

 old and quaint a sort that I could give no 



