Sentence:  So this was my future home, I thought!...<WSD>Backed</WSD> by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.