As the
days shortened, Polly and I found them crowded with interests. Life at
Four Oaks was to mean such a radical change that we could not help
speculating about its influence upon us and upon the children. Would it
be satisfactory to us and to them? Or should we find after a year or two
of experiment that we had been mistaken in believing that we could live
happier lives in the country than in town? A year and a half of outdoor
life and freedom from professional responsibilities had wrought a great
change in me. I could now eat and sleep like a hired man, and it seemed
preposterous to claim that I was going to the country for my health. My
medical adviser, however, insisted that I had not gotten far enough away
from the cause of my breakdown, and that it would be unwise for me to
take up work again for at least another year. In my own mind there was a
fixed opinion that I should never take it up again. I loved it dearly;
but I had given long, hard service to it, and felt that I had earned the
right to freedom from its exacting demands.
Pages:
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212