While Ursula was at Belcote, the snow fell.
In the morning, a covering of snow weighed on the rhododendron bushes.
“Shall we go out?” said Maggie.
She had lost some of her leader's sureness, and was now tentative, a little in reserve from her friend.
They took the key of the gate and wandered into the park. It was a white world on which dark trees and tree masses stood under a sky keen with frost. The two girls went past the hall, that was shuttered and silent, their footprints marking the snow on the drive. Down the park, a long way off, a man was carrying armfuls of hay across the snow. He was a small, dark figure, like an animal moving in its unawareness.