I was now in a wing of the castle further to the right than the rooms I knew and a storey lower down.

From the windows I could see that the suite of rooms lay along to the south of the castle, the windows of the end room looking out both west and south.

On the latter side, as well as to the former, there was a great precipice.

The castle was built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was quite impregnable, and great windows were placed here where sling, or bow, or culverin could not reach, and consequently light and comfort, impossible to a position which had to be guarded, were secured.

To the west was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged mountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with mountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and crannies of the stone.