The Dream of Manderley

The second Mrs de Winter dreams of returning to Manderley, now a ruined and overgrown estate. She finds the iron gate locked and the lodge uninhabited, but passes through like a spirit. The drive is choked with grass and moss, and the woods have encroached upon it. She comes upon the house, grey stone shining in the moonlight, but the garden has obeyed the jungle law, with nettles everywhere. She imagines the house alive, with light from the windows and the library door half open, but a cloud passes and the illusion vanishes. The house is a sepulchre, and she resolves to think of Manderley only in its happier moments, knowing it is no longer theirs.