"The third volume of The Herries Chronicle, which recounts the dramatic fortunes of one family from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century, in a magnificent Lake District setting. Here is fiction in glorious, sweeping measure, set against wild and beautiful scenery and crowded with fairs, balls, weddings, duels, witches, abductions, murder and romance." "Judith Paris, now middle aged, returns to the Lakes to deal with the bitter feud between two branches of her family. A feud culminating in the construction by one branch of a huge house known as The Fortress, which will dominate the land of the others. But within this family the children of the two families have important roles to play."--BOOK JACKET.