Shuttered, silent, abandoned, it stood like a harsh memento mori of human hopes.
Dickson had never before been affected by an inanimate thing with so strong a sense of disquiet.

He had pictured an old stone tower on a bright headland; he found instead this raw thing among trees.

The decadence of the brand-new repels as something against nature, and this new thing was decadent.

But there was a mysterious life in it, for though not a chimney smoked, it seemed to enshrine a personality and to wear a sinister aura.

He felt a lively distaste, which was almost fear.