When Vivien had left Notley she once came down to my house, and felt utterly sad because she no longer had a garden...she adored mine, which was rather marvelous. Suddenly she said: "I want a little house...with a view like this, but by water...on a lake or a stream...and with trees..." and I had seen the exact house three days before. I told her, and she was off in a flash and found it to be the very place of her idea...that's how she got Tickerage Mill. I had wanted it very much for myself, but it was a bit too far from town, I thought, and too small for me. Viv was instantly at home there. Shortly afterwards I left Hascombe and moved down into Sussex where we were virtually neighbors. She was always taking cuttings and bits and pieces, and on one occasion brought me a couple rose bushes...it was a cold day in early March: She said, "If you put them in now you'll just make it; this one is called after me...rather pretty...and very sweet of them...and this one," indicating a little bunch of thorns in a plastic bag, "this one is new...I ordered it specially for you, it's called "Super Star". And I said, rather lightly, "Then they are both called after you...how lovely." Viv was quite still for a moment, and then her eyes rimmed with tears and she hugged me like a little bear. And we just stood there in the cold garden amongst the silent roses until she had composed herself. We didn't say anything more. A little later she said the plants all needed a good mulching...and we went into tea.作者: youshuangjia 时间: 2010-10-24 15:07
