Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/446

396 The house being in the midst of twelve acres was secluded; the landscape architecture of Brookline is world famous and Chestnut Hill towered above a vista which fell away from the rear of the mansion in beautiful gradations. The bay window of Mrs. Eddy’s study was encircled by a balcony which extended under the windows of her bedroom. Access to this was had through French windows opening like doors and here Mrs. Eddy was accustomed to walk to refresh herself for the renewal of her work. In summer her own grounds and the adjacent estates became a veritable paradise of lawn and shrubbery, of flowers, birds, and bees. Mrs. Eddy’s grounds were like an Italian garden falling in terraces to the beautiful flower court.

The interior of her study and bedroom were kept much as at Pleasant View. The bedroom was most simple, having a three-quarter bed of walnut and a bureau and dressing-table of the same wood. In the study her flat-topped desk stood in front of the bay-window, her easy chair behind it. She could turn in this chair to a small book-case which held the books most often required, she could look out over the hills, or, turning in the opposite direction she could command a view of the driveway and the gates which opened on Beacon street. It became more and more her habit to sit here looking out at those gates. After coming to Boston she took her usual daily drive around the reservoir and through the charming country roads and boulevards. At Chestnut Hill