THE AUSTRALIAN ROOM It was that discomfort to man, that cruelty to beast, that outrage by unnatural Nature upon all her children--a bitter summer's day.

The wind was in the east; great swollen clouds wallowed across the sky, now without a drop, now breaking into capricious showers of stinging rain; and a very occasional burst of sunlight served only to emphasize the evil by reminding one of the season it really was, or should have been, even if it did not entice one to the wetting which was the sure reward of a walk abroad.

The Delverton air was strong and bracing enough, but the patron wind of the district bit to the bone through garments never intended for winter wear.
On such a day there could be few more undesirable abodes than Normanthorpe House, with its marble floors, its high ceilings, and its general scheme of Italian coolness and discomfort.

It was a Tuesday, when Mr.Steel usually amused himself by going on 'Change in Northborough and lunching there at the Delverton Club.

Rachel was thus not only physically chilled and depressed, but thrown upon her own society at its worst; and she missed that of her husband more than she was aware.
Once she had been a bright and energetic person with plenty of resources within herself; now she had singularly few.