It seemed as though the golden days of "St. Martin's" summer had come to stay.  
The sun shone without warmth in the vast blue expanse of sky, across which swept the gabbling cranes on their annual flight southward. A hoar-frost lay in the shadow of the houses. The air was crisp and , the cold invigorating, a brooding stillness wrapped the world.
 
The vine-wreathed columns on the terrace, the avenue and the ground beneath, all glowed under a purple of fallen leaves. The lake shone blue and smooth as a m............