The Black Robe

by Wilkie Collins · 1881

Wealthy, guilt-haunted Lewis Romayne kills a man in a duel and becomes the target of Father Benwell, a Jesuit who schemes to steer Romayne's fortune and his troubled marriage to Stella Eyrecourt toward the Church. Benwell's manipulations, built on a hidden connection between Stella and the dead man's widow, drive Romayne from his wife and child into the priesthood, wrecking the marriage he swore to protect.

Books mentioned in The Black Robe (1)

• Paradise Lost by John Milton: “high church and choral service in the town on Sundays--recitations in the evening from Paradise Lost, by an amateur elocutionist--oh, you foolish, headstrong child!”