CHAPTER TWO
ARRIVAL AT THE TOWERSPomfret Towers was the successor of Pomfret Castle, the Norman fortress built by Giles de Pomfret in the twelfth century, partially destroyed in the Wars of the Roses, rebuilt under Henry VII and battered by Cromwell. The first earl was created in 1689 for services rendered to the Prince of Orange, and in the same year a younger brother, who had rashly adopted the Roman Catholic faith, found it convenient to go to Italy, where his descendants still lived. In the eighteenth century the family, much impoverished by the third earl’s losses at play, moved into the dower house of Mellings, adding the south wing. The castle was allowed to fall into complete ruin, except for the old buttery, where a hermit was kept to attract visitors. The fourth earl, suddenly e
