"their reasons for their conduct. but you shall have it all just as it occurred. when i came down, mr. rucastle met me here and drove me in his dog-cart to the copper beeches. it is, as he said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. there are grounds round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which slopes down to the southampton highroad, which curves past about a hundred yards from the front door. this ground in front belongs to the house, but the woods all round are part of lord southerton’s preserves. a clump of copper beeches immediately in front of the hall door has given its name to the place.