On leaving Greece we loitered at Hyères in the month of cherry-blossoms, and moved slowly northwards through Nîmes to the fantastic neighbourhood of Le Puy, with its curious hill-set town and churches perched on pinnacles of conical rock.
From Le Puy W. S. wrote to Mrs. Janvier:
18th April, 1904.... What has most impressed my imagination in this region is what I saw today outside of fantastic Le Puy—namely at the magnificent old feudal rock-Chateau fortress of Polignac, erected on the site of the famous Temple of Apollo (raised here by the Romans on the still earlier site of a Druidic Temple to the Celtic Sun God). I looked down the mysterious hollow of the ancient oracle of Apollo, and realised how deep a hold even in the France of today is maintained by the ancient Pagan faith....
CHAPTER XXV
THE WINGED DESTINY
Literary Geography
Two important events of 1904 to William Sharp were the publication of The Winged Destiny, at midsummer, by Messrs. Chapman & Hall; and of his Literary Geography in October.
In the Dedication to Dr. John Goodchild of The Winged Destiny (the title of The Magic Kingdoms was discarded), the author set forth ‘her’ intention: