Four Gates

"Scorn is more grievous than the pains of death; Reproach more piercing than the pointed sword. " Howe.

AN autumn morning, grey and dreary; storms of hail lash against the window panes; the wind howls round the houses and shrieks down the chimneys. And Audrey stands looking out of the window with dazed eyes, wondering if the events of the past two days are just a series of nightmares from which she will wake, or whether they are hard, sad facts.