There were half a dozen steps to the hall door, and a window at each side.

At one side of the little enclosure there was a trellis concealing, as I knew, a range of out-offices.

At the other side was a stable and coach-house.
It was growing dusk now, but the Cottage was lit up.

Through the unshuttered windows I could see the light of a fire and the glow of a pink-shaded lamp in the room that used to be the drawing-room.

The opposite room was also fire-lit and lamp-lit.
The hall door stood wide open, and Sheila, my lover's spaniel, stood wagging her tail in the doorway.
"Your cook is already installed, darling," my lover said in the low voice which I feared in him "I told her to make herself scarce.