hearth-ashes

Updated: May 2, 2025

'A cupboard close to his bed, and the key in her pocket. Ah! said one. 'And a blue phial therein h'm! said another. 'And spurge-laurel leaves among the hearth-ashes. Oh-oh! said a third. On his return home Sir William seemed to have aged years. But he said nothing; indeed, it was a thing impossible. And from that hour a ghastly estrangement began. She could not understand it, and simply waited.

Thomas Hardy - A Group of Noble Dames