| Preface Introduction Part I Chapter: I, II, III, IV, V. Part II Chapter: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII. |
By the Same Author
COLIN
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
MISS MAPP
DODO WONDERS
ROBIN LINNET
QUEEN LUCIA
COLIN II. A NOVEL
By E. F. BENSON :: ::
Author of “Colin,” “Visible and Invisible” ::
THIRD EDITION
LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO.
PATERNOSTER ROW
Published August, 1925.
PREFACE
The Preface to “Colin” (published in 1923) informed such readers asperuse prefaces that a further volume would complete the history of hisassociation with the bargain his ancestor struck with Satan.... “ColinII.” therefore must not be regarded as a sequel to “Colin,” but as thesecond half of that romance.
The interval between the appearance of the two books has been longerthan I anticipated, for I was not aware of the difficulties that layahead.
INTRODUCTION
With the declining wheel of the sun to the west, the shadow of the greatyew-hedge began to flow like some tide, dark and clear, over the pavedterrace which since morning had basked in the blaze of the July day. Ithad been planted by Colin Stanier first Earl of Yardley, when he laidthe foundations of his house in the time of Elizabeth, and thethree-sided serge rampart, now thick and solid as a fortress-wall, ranout from the corners of the façade, and formed a frame for the lawnbelow the terrace. Beyond, the ground declined in smooth slopes ofshort-cut turf to the lake. This lake also was the creation of the firstLord Yardley, for he had built the broad dam now clothed withrhododendrons across the dip of the valley, so that the stream whichflowed down it was pent to form this triangular expanse of water. At thetop end it was shallow, but by the sluice in the centre of the damfifteen feet of dark water reflected the banks of blossom.
Beyond again a