When she opened her eyes in the morning it was because a young housemaid had come into her room to light the fire and was kneeling on the hearth-rug raking out the cinders noisily.Mary lay and watched her for a few moments and then began to look about the room.She had never seen a room at all like it and thought it curious and gloomy.The walls were covered with tapestry with a forest scene embroidered on it.There were fantastically dressed people under the trees and in the distance there was a glimpse of the turrets of a castle.There were hunters and horses and dogs and ladies.Mary felt as if she were in the forest with them.Out of a deep window she could see a great climbing stretch of land which seemed to have no trees on it，and to look rather like an endless，dull，purplish sea.
Martha found her coat and hat for her and a pair of stout little boots and she showed her her way downstairs.
“If tha'goes round that way tha'll come to th'gardens，”she said，pointing to a gate in a wall of shrubbery.“There's lots o'flowers in summer-time，but there's nothin'bloomin’now.”She seemed to hesitate a second before she added，“One of th'gardens is locked up.No one has been in it for ten years.”
“Why？”asked Mary in spite of herself.Here was another locked door added to the hundred in the strange house.
“Mr.Craven had it shut when his wife died so sudden.He won't let no one go inside.It was her garden.He locked th'door an’dug a hole and buried th'key.There's Mrs.Medlock's bell ringing-I must run.”
After she was gone Mary turned down the walk which led to the door in the shrubbery.She could not help thinking about the garden which no one had been into for ten years.She wondered what it would look like and whether there were any flowers still alive in it.When she had passed through the shrubbery gate she found herself in great gardens，with wide lawns and winding walks with clipped borders.There were trees，and flower-beds，and evergreens clipped into strange shapes，and a large pool with an old gray fountain in its midst.But the flower-beds were bare and wintry and the fountain was not playing.This was not the garden which was shut up.How could a garden be shut up？You could always walk into a garden.