Oldal 33 [33]
EirsTroric’ GARDENS +OF7.'V TRGCINIA
died in the house and returns punctiliously to prove the ghost lore
well attested. The Wythe house is faithfully pictured by Ellen
Glasgow, in "The Voice of the People,” as the home of Judge
Bassett.
On the same side of the street stands the white-columned
dwelling where the Pages and Saunders lived in early times. ‘The
original garden at this place must have been among the most pre¬
tentious in Williamsburg, and even now the well-defined terraces
compare favorably with those of newer design. ‘The hospitable
old house stands upon the topmost fall, where the broad lawn ts
graced by two large magnolia grandifloras and two gnarled crepe
myrtle trees. Beneath the shade of an ancient mulberry tree and
occasional clumps of Japanese pomegranate, snowdrops, jonquils
and blue hyacinths rival each other for bloom. Most years the
Star of Bethlehem blossoms so thickly along this fall that it looks
as if a billowy bridal wreath had been thrown over and above it.
Shade trees, locust and hackberry, grow on the second terrace;
this gives way gently to the third, which ends at a picturesque
stream. Beneath the old willow which shades this grassy, sloping
bank, General Washington is said to have held important con¬
ferences while drinking spiced wine with ofhcers of high command.
Across the Palace Green and opposite the Wythe and Saunders
houses is the quaint little building once the home of Governor John
Page. Near the old theatre, as it was in Colonial days, this little
house passed from history into fiction as the home of the heroine of
Mary Johnstons "Audrey, and now is known altogether as
" Audreys House." Though its paneled walls are interesting, the
stories of its spirit world are more so, and the tragic words etched
upon one of the old window panes quickens both pulse and fancy
as does nothing else in all Williamsburg. Firmly outlined upon
the glass are the words, “‘1796—Nov. 23—Ah, fatal day!’ The
story the few words tell must have been one of sorrow, of heartache
and of love.
The prim walk up to the house on one side begins under old
[22 ]