But after nightfall Tanton Gardens was a
lonely and gloomy place, lighted only by one lamp, which stood in the
high road more to mark the entrance to the street than as a guide to
traffic along it, for its rays barely penetrated beyond the first pair
of chestnut trees.
The houses in Tanton Gardens were in keeping with the street: they
indicated wealth and comfort. They were of solid exterior, of a size that
suggested a fine roominess, and each house stood in its own grounds.
Riversbrook was the last house at the blind end of the street, and its
east windows looked out on a wood which sloped down to a valley, the
street having originally been an incursion into a large private estate,
of which the wood alone remained. On the other side a tangled nutwood
coppice separated the judge's residence from its nearest neighbours, so
the house was completely isolated. It stood well back in about four acres
of ground, and only a glimpse of it could be seen from the street front
because of a small plantation of ornamental trees, which grew in front of
the house and hid it almost completely from view. When the carriage drive
which wound through the plantation had been passed the house burst
abruptly into view--a big, rambling building of uncompromising ugliness.
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