The Countess Olenska and the Blanker Habitation

The day was perfect. A breeze from the north drove little puffs of white cloud across an ultramarine sky, with the bright sea running under it. Archer had not sure that he wanted to see the countess olenska again. He simply felt that if he could carry away the vision of the spot on earth she walked on, and the way the sky and sea enclosed it, the rest of the world might seem less empty. When he reached the stud farm, a glance showed him that the horse was not what he wanted. But at three o'clock, he shook out the reins over the trotters and turned into the roads leading to portsmouth.