Chapter 44
Gloom had over come the Vanderwall Estate when Duchess Elizabeth had come to live there. The house was in a crumbling state, lonely and in despair. Where once lavish decorations were proudly displayed now remained only tattered and ruined. In the most remote mountain region of the kingdom the palace stood proud and tall, now slumped by the erosion of the soil under it. What became of Duke Vanderwall and his servants was a thing of mystery, but his younger niece Elizabeth held possession to his last known letter which said little of anything but, "I have found it". Now in her early thirties she was too old to re-marry, her husband passing suddenly of a strange illness. Rumors spread of her poisoning him, and to prevent scandal the King sent her to live in the Vanderwall Estate in isolation
- Writer
