" Here was gossip, cooking, boot- and diaper-drying and all the other business that man has ever performed before a fire. Here also could always be found someone with the soul of a concierge who could lead you through the maze of woolen-walled corridors to the room within a room that you were seeking, telling you meanwhile every detail of what went on behind that particular khaki curtain. As "

― Kathryn Hulme , The Wild Place