A Monk of Cruta by E. Phillips Oppenheim

E. Phillips Oppenheim's A Monk of Cruta opens with the death of Martin de Vaux in a storm-battered island monastery, attended by the priest Father Adrian and his servant Gomez. As dawn breaks, a yacht defies a danger signal to reach the bay, bringing Martin's son Paul and a mysterious foreign man, Victor. Under interrogation about a fortune offered in exchange for relinquishing power over those he loves, Victor refuses and curses Martin and his family. With his last strength, Martin shoots Victor dead, then dies himself, leaving a grief-stricken dark-skinned child, Adrea, sobbing over Victor's body. Years later in London, Paul de Vaux watches a sensational dancer, Adrea Kiros, perform at Lady Swindon's reception and recognizes her as the "little brown girl" from Cruta, now his ward. He shares a cab with her, learns she ran away from the convent of St. Lucile, and begins visiting her. Adrea records in her private journal her passion for Paul and contempt for men generally. Paul's younger brother Arthur, meanwhile, becomes dangerously infatuated with Adrea, running up debts and neglecting his regiment. Visiting his mother at Vaux Abbey, Paul learns a Roman Catholic priest has been touring the ruins, prayerfully attached to the old monastery chapel there. That night Paul encounters this priest — Father Adrian, no longer bound by monastic vows — in the Abbey's ruined cloisters. Adrian reveals he learned Martin's deathbed secret as man to man, not confession, and warns Paul ominously before departing, promising a future meeting. Back in London, Paul tries to save Arthur from Adrea's influence, paying off his brother's debts and inviting him home, but Arthur cannot leave her. Paul visits Adrea himself, resolving to help her as a guardian should; she nearly seduces him, then furiously rejects him when he holds back, vowing to ruin Arthur and expose her father's secret. Paul later softens toward Lady May Westover, his intended match, while dreading Adrea's return letter begging forgiveness. Riding home in a storm, Paul takes shelter at a cottage now let to a Madame de Merteuill and her step-daughter — who proves to be Adrea, and Gomez is again in service there. Adrea and Paul's passion reignites despite Father Adrian's sudden, furious intervention, in which he denounces their union as sacrilege given Martin's murder of Adrea's father, and reveals to Adrea his own forbidden love for her, which she scornfully rejects. Lady May and Captain Westover learn of Paul's connection to Adrea and coldly confront him, damaging his standing. Arthur, arriving to find Paul and Adrea together, is devastated and banished by Adrea's contempt. Father Adrian confronts Paul directly, forcing him to choose between renouncing Adrea forever or facing exposure and ruin; Paul asks for a week to decide. Adrian then presses his own suit on Adrea, who rebuffs him utterly, and he departs toward Vaux Abbey. That night, Father Adrian finally tells Paul the full story entrusted to him by the dying Martin: decades earlier, Martin seduced and eloped with Irene, daughter of the Count of Cruta, breaking her betrothal and defying her father's refusal of the match. The Count's curse and warning of future retribution went unheeded. Irene's affection for Martin curdled under the attentions of a mysterious admirer, Count Victor Ferdinand Hirsfeld, and she eventually vanished from Martin's life without a word, after which Martin returned to England and rebuilt his life at Vaux Abbey — until, some months later, a foreign visitor arrived at the Abbey asking to see him.

By E. Phillips Oppenheim · First published 1904 · Genre: Adventure, Romance, Mystery · 36 chapters · 86,274 words

First lines

"Father Adrian!"

"I am here!"

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What this Textopian page supports

A Monk of Cruta is listed on Textopian as a novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim, dated 1904 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Novel
• Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim
• Date: 1904 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Adventure, Romance, Mystery, Historical
• Length: 86,274 words
• Structure: 36 chapters, 1,480 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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• Work identity for A Monk of Cruta by E. Phillips Oppenheim
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres

• Adventure — The narrative is driven by a quest, involving physical challenges and danger.
• Romance — There are significant elements of love and relationships.
• Mystery — The plot involves the unraveling of secrets and unknown events.
• Historical — The setting and context are based in a specific historical period.

Tags

adventure · mystery · historical · fiction · romance · suspense · drama · intrigue · spirituality · medieval · quest · betrayal

Contents

• "THE BLACK-ROBED PHANTOM 'DEATH"
• "THE NEW ART"
• "THE DANCING GIRL"
• "ADREA'S DIARY"
• "THE FAR-OFF MUTTERING OF THE STORM TO COME"
• "AN ASHEN GREY DELIGHT"
• "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT YOUR MISSION?"
• "I AM WEARY OF A HOPELESS LOVE"
• "AH! HOW FAIR MY WEAKNESS FINDS THEE"
• "I AM BUT A SLAVE, AND YET I BID THEE COME"
• ADREA'S DIARY
• "WE ARE LIKE SHOOTING STARS, WHOSE MEETING IS THEIR RUIN"
• "THE PATH THAT LEADS TO MADMEN'S KINGDOMS"
• "THE POISON OF HONEY FLOWERS"
• "AND MOST OF ALL WOULD I FLY FROM THE CRUEL MADNESS OF LOVE"
• "TWIXT YOU AND ME A NOISOME SHADOW CAST"
• "IF LOVE YOU CHOOSE, THEN LOVE SHALL BE YOUR RUIN"
• "SOFTLY GLIMMERING THROUGH THE LAURELS AT THE QUIET EVENFALL"
• "BLOOD CALLS ALOUD FOR BLOOD AND NOT FOR HANDS ENTWINED"
• "THE NEW, STRONG WINE OF LOVE"
• "ADREA'S DIARY"
• "OH! HEART OF STONE, YET FLESH TO ALL SAVE ME"
• "MY LIPS ARE CHARGED WITH TRUTH, AND JUSTICE BIDS ME SPEAK"
• "THE SHATTERED VASE OF LOVE'S MOST HOLY VOWS"
• "A BECKONING VOICE FROM OUT A SHADOWY LAND"
• "LATE THOU COMEST, CRUEL THOU HAST BEEN"
• "GRIM FIGURES TRACED BY SORROW'S FIERY HAND"
• "ADREA'S DIARY"
• "ADREA'S DIARY"
• "ADREA'S DIARY"
• "ADREA'S DIARY"
• "THE LORD OF CRUTA"
• "THE DAWN OF A SHORT, SWEET LIFE"
• "A VOICE AND FIGURE FROM THE DISTANT PAST"
• "FROM OUT LIFE'S THUNDERS TO A STRANGE, SWEET WORLD"
• "LOVE THAN DEATH ITSELF MORE STRONG"

More by E. Phillips Oppenheim

• The Cafe of Terror (1920)
• Exit a Dictator (1939)
• Murder at Monte Carlo (1933)
• The Bird of Paradise (1936)
• The Spy Paramount (1935)
• The Great Impersonation (1920)
• Berenice (1911)
• The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent (1934)
• All works by E. Phillips Oppenheim