The Traveler's Tale

The king's accusation is unequivocal: Sir John de Dalton murdered Michael le Poynings and raped Sir Michael's sister, Lady Margery de la Beche, at dawn on Good Friday in 1347. Yet, the evidence is dubious. The couple wed a week later in a church in Upholland, then fled north to Scotland. The Lord Chancellor gave chase but neither caught the fugitive nor found the lady.
Sir John returned to England in 1349, without his wife. He reported she died but refused to say where, when or how she passed away.
Queen Philippa shared a close bond with Lady Margery, forged during the time the lady served the queen as a lady in waiting. Disappointed by official indifference to her friend's death, the queen commissions a young esquire of the king, Geoffrey Chaucer, to travel to Lancashire to unravel this inexplicable chain of events.
Chaucer sets off for Sir John's home brimming with optimism but faces an unforeseen challenge. The master of Bispham Manor protects a dreadful secret that he will defend to the death. Neither the esquire nor the knight foresee the consequences of this memorable encounter.
This novel is based on documented evidence of crimes committed at Beaumes Manor in 1347 and the subsequent disappearance of Lady Margery de la Beche.