The Black Robe

"The Black Robe" by Wilkie Collins is a complex story from the late 1800s, exploring tricky morals and personal battles inside society through its people, especially Lewis Romayne, a young man dealing with what happened after a fight and the possible heavy results of what he did. We first see Romayne being asked to join his sick aunt on a trip across the English Channel. His first feelings of not wanting to go show parts of him that hint at deeper emotional issues. This start gets ready for his trip, not just to France, but also into a place full of moral problems that will test him and lead to a big showdown after a card game. The story grows through meetings that show how Romayne's ideas about honor, guilt, and the effects of violence change, hinting at the dark topics that become common in the tale.