16 HOME AND GARDEN 



faced patch boggled on to a garment ; a patcli that is 

 always conscious of its intrusive presence. Whereas an 

 addition planned by a good architect will be like one 

 of those noble patches such as were worked by some 

 Italian genius in needlework two hundred years ago. 

 The garment needed a patch, and a patch was put in, 

 but instead of a clumsy attempt being made to conceal 

 it, it was glorified and ornamented and turned into 

 some graceful arabesque of leaf and flower and tendril, 

 enriched by cunning needlework of thread or cord or 

 delicate golden purfling, so that what began by being 

 an unsightly rent, grew under the skilful fingers, 

 quickened by the ready wit of the fertile brain, into a 

 thing of enduring beauty and delight. 



When it came to the actual planning of the house 

 I was to live in — I had made one false start a year 

 or two before — I agreed with the architect how and 

 where the house should stand, and more or less how 

 the rooms should lie together. And I said that I 

 wanted a small house with plenty of room in it — there 

 are seven bedrooms in all — and that I disliked small 

 narrow passages, and would have nothing poky or 

 screwy or ill-lighted. 



So he drew a plan, and we soon came to an under- 

 standing, first about the main block and then about 

 the details. Every portion was carefully talked over, 

 and I feel bound to confess that in most cases out of 

 the few in which I put pressure on him to waive his 

 judgment in favour of my wishes, I should have done 



