Wilkie Collins
The Black Robe
"The Black Robe" by Wilkie Collins is a novel published in 1881. After accidentally killing a man in a duel, Lewis Romayne returns to England haunted by the victim's brother's screams. When he falls in love with Stella Eyrecourt, a Catholic priest named Father Benwell schemes to convert Romayne and claim his ancestral estate for the Church. The novel explores manipulation, faith, and loyalty through its controversial anti-Catholic lens.