From the heart of industrial England we quickly pass to the beauty and mystery of a land hardly changed over time immemorial - the Welsh Marches - that surrounds this story of little more than half a dozen characters. As the mountains and valleys blend together in their beauty throughout the seasons, so the brothers Charlie and Alaric make their impact upon life in Trecastel - the home of the Grosmont family. The dark tower in which Alaric dwells dominates all around, suggesting the conflicting moods of the occupants. A local girl, Judith, charming but innocent and taken there as a child bride, links the characters. George Meredith, the local family doctor, and his wife, bring sanity and common sense to this fascinating and gripping story. Francis Brett Young writing in the first quarter of the twentieth century inspires the reader in many ways to enter the magical setting of a unique area. Blue cloth boards. Maps on pastedowns. 1949 reprint of 1936 edition. 261pp.