“Aye,” said the barkeep, at the first establishment he entered, “if it’s Belvoir you want, go down the west road for a few miles. You’ll see that jumble of stone, right enough.” Lord Davies thought this an odd description of a manor house, but when he arrived at Belvoir he understood the man’s meaning. The local building material was a red sandstone, which gave the town a warm and unpretentious appearance; the earl’s house was constructed of the same, but it had been left in disrepair, and several large blocks had fallen from the tops of the crenellations, as Beauvoir was constructed in a fashion reminiscent of a medieval castle. And Lady Regina had been sent here for her recovery? The viscount was suddenly furious with Lord Knowles, or even more so than before, and he decided that upon their return to London—for he would ensure that the earl’s daughter was returned to town, provided it was safe for her to travel—he would have words with the man. They could not travel back to London together, thought Talfryn. ’Twould be a scandal. Unless— Gretna Green was nearly straight on from Penrith. Not more than thirty miles, and they could be married before another night was gone.
