The Black Robe

Wilkie Collins

Jun 2007 · 1st World Publishing

About this ebook

THE doctors could do no more for the Dowager Lady Berrick. When the medical advisers of a lady who has reached seventy years of age recommend the mild climate of the South of France, they mean in plain language that they have arrived at the end of their resources. Her ladyship gave the mild climate a fair trial, and then decided (as she herself expressed it) to "die at home." Traveling slowly, she had reached Paris at the date when I last heard of her. It was then the beginning of November. A week later, I met with her nephew, Lewis Romayne, at the club. "What brings you to London at this time of year?" I asked. "The fatality that pursues me," he answered grimly. "I am one of the unluckiest men living."

About the author

Wilkie Collins was born in London, England on January 8, 1824. He worked first in business and then law, but eventually turned to literature. During his lifetime, he wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, at least 14 plays, and more than 100 non-fiction pieces. His works include Antonia, The Woman in White, The Moonstone, The Haunted Hotel, and Heart and Science. He was a close friend of Charles Dickens and collaborated with him. He died on September 23, 1889.