waited too long

“Far below lies the deeping combe with our village in the heart of it. The distant village seems a child’s plaything that I can hold in my own hand. A great fallen yew with nurslings jutting evergreen from its broken body lies near our path. This is the very place at which I first saw the village ten years ago. The line of trees here on the ridge is unchanged, as if I came here only yesterday. I waited in the quiet vale of Duns far too long.”
— from the novel SINFUL FOLK
Source: http://sinfulfolk.com