Reading in the Garden

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

The season of autumn has finally made a sweeping visit and it has been absolute bliss. These are the days I long for, for so long. All the longing and waiting is met by a few days of loveliness. This is when I head outside, and try to spend as much time enjoying the autumnal air, which does not have a lengthy stay.

Among a few other outdoor things, I spent a long while sitting on my favourite stone bench in the garden (Hollis Garden) reading this book. The air was still chilly as the morning hours grew onward; I was in the shade. A gentle breeze, cool to the touch, shifted through my hair and the pages of my book. Visitors to the garden walked by me, talking about the plants and their own gardens. Classical music played (it happened to be Bach, my favourite). I read until the stone bench become too cold and then went home to warm up with a pot of Yorkshire tea and cinnamon crumb cake. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I was sitting in the garden, reading. Something I can only really do when the weather is like this. I love to read outside, and in this exquisite garden, it is a treat, indeed. It's one of my favourite spots to read outside here in town. It is usually quiet and peaceful. I don't have a yard, per say, nor do I have a porch. So, I head to a beautiful spot I know so well.

I have been enjoying reading this book, published in 1861-1862. It has turned into a mystery that has really intrigued me. When I picked up this book at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford this past Spring, I didn't know anything about it, so I went into the story with all windows of my mind open wide. 

The first several chapters had me wondering where the story was going to go. I got to know the characters, but didn't see where it was heading. The story took a little time to roll, but now it is going, and it is quite a mysterious tale, with travels across England in search of clues to piece together a murder. Or, an assumed murder, but so much is left incomplete thus far, with clues gathered to mark Lady Audley as the chief suspect, however, I sense there is much more to find down this rabbit hole. And that mysteriousness keeps me turning the pages.