Sentence:  So this was my future home, I thought!...Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary <WSD>off</WSD> 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:  In a direction away from the speaker or object.