Wilkie Collins

The Black Robe Wilkie Collins

Lewis Romayne, accompanied by his old friend Major Hynd, is in Boulogne to see his dying aunt. He is involved in a quarrel over a card game, challenged to a duel and accidentally kills his opponent. The plaintive screams of the dead Frenchman's younger brother afterwards haunt Romayne for ever. Distracted with remorse, Romayne returns first to London and then to his Yorkshire home, Vange Abbey, confiscated at the dissolution of the monasteries and given to one of his ancestors by Henry VIII. Even at Vange he still hears the French boy's voice and escapes to London to visit another old friend, Lord Loring, head of a prominent Catholic family. Staying with Lady Loring is Stella Eyrecourt who falls in love with Romayne. Father Benwell, acting as the Lorings' spiritual advisor, is determined to convert Romayne and restore Vange to the church with the help of the young priest, Arthur Penrose.