Uncle Silas
Uncle Silas,a novel by J. S. Le Fanu , published 1864 .
Maud Ruthyn, aged 17, is the only child of Austin Ruthyn, an elderly recluse of considerable wealth. Her mother, whom he married late in life, is dead. Austin has a younger brother Silas, suspected by many of the murder of a wealthy gambler who, years before, was found with his throat cut in mysterious circumstances at Bartram-Haugh, Silas's Derbyshire home. Believing in Silas's innocence, Austin at his death leaves a will designed to demonstrate his confidence in his brother: Silas is made Maud's guardian, and her entire fortune is to go to him if she dies under age. Uncle Silas, who has been involved in many scandals and is heavily in debt, loses no time in summoning Maud to Bartram-Haugh, where he attempts to marry her to his boorish son Dudley, who is in fact already secretly married. When she refuses, he pretends that he is sending her to school in France; but when, after...
[The entire page is 280 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
