CHAPTER IV.
A GREWSOME ABODE.
Vastville, the patrimonial domain of the Lucan family, is situated a short distance from the sea, on the west coast of the Norman Finisterre.

It is a manor with high roof and wrought-iron balconies, which dates from the time of Louis XIII., and which has taken the place of the old castle, a few ruins of which still serve to ornament the park.

It is concealed in a thickly shaded depression of the soil, and a long avenue of antique elms precedes it.

The aspect of it is singularly retired and melancholy, owing to the dense woods that surround it on all sides.

This wooded thicket marks, on this point of the peninsula, the last effort of the vigorous vegetation of Normandy.