5. Translate the following:

1). The sun came through the stained glass of the windows and shone upon her. I could see from my seat the round rosy faces of the village children, yawning a little as they waited for the sermon to finish and I could hear the shuffle of their feet, pinched into Sunday boots, longing to be barefoot on the green in play. I wished passionately, for one brief moment, that I might be young again, and innocent, with Ambrose, and not Rachel, beside me in the pew.

2) Something must be missing. Some postscript, on a further scrap of paper, that she had thrust into another sheet of the blotter. I looked once more, but there was nothing. The blotter was clean, save for one folded packet lying on the top. I seized it and tore away the wrapping. This time it was not a letter, nor a list of herbs or plants. It was a drawing of Ambrose. The initials in the corner were indistinct, but I supposed it was by some Italian friend or artist, for Florence was scribbled after the initials, and the date was the month of June of the year he died. As I stared at it, I realised it must have been the last likeness ever taken. He had aged much, then, after leaving home. There were lines about his mouth I did not know, and at the corners of his eyes. The eyes themselves had a haunted look about them, as though some shadow stood close to his shoulder and he feared to look behind. There was something lost about the face, and lonely too. He seemed to know disaster was in store. Though the eyes asked for devotion, they pleaded for pity too. Underneath the drawing Ambrose himself had scribbled some quotation in Italian. "To Rachel. Non rammenrare che I'ore felici. Ambrose."

THE FINAL DISCUSSION OF THE BOOK

1. Describe the main characters of the novel (describe their appearance and give their psychological portraits).

2. What is the significance of the first and last sentence of the book (“They used to hang men at Four Turnings in the old days. Not any more, though”)?

3. What is to become with Philip and Louise?

4. Rachel Ashley - a victim or a culprit?

5. If you were the author, would you like to write the continuation of the novel?

6. What is your impression of the book?

7. Would you like to read some more books by the same author? Why? Why not?

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