The Monster

The Monster by Edgar Saltus (1897)

Edgar Saltus's *The Monster* follows Leilah Ogston, who marries Gulian Verplank at Coronado, only to discover, minutes into the honeymoon, three misdirected letters revealing—so it seems—that Verplank's late father had an affair with her mother, making her and Gulian siblings. Unable to reach him before the yacht departs, she flees to Nevada, suffers a breakdown, and secures a divorce without ever explaining why, leaving Verplank to search the globe for her in vain. Settled in Paris under Violet Silverstairs's wing, Leilah steadies herself with theosophical readings (the *Vidyâ*, the Upanishads) that teach her to accept suffering as karmic debt. Seeking only "protection," she marries the impoverished, duplicitous Count Barouffski, who wants nothing but her fortune. At a dinner party she unexpectedly meets Verplank again; Barouffski, sensing a rival, insults him, and a duel is arranged, in which Verplank is wounded. Verplank confronts Leilah privately and forces the secret from her. He then learns from his own mother that the incriminating letters were actually written to Leilah's aunt, Hilda Hemingway, not to Leilah's mother—so there is no blood relation at all. He urges Leilah to leave with him immediately, but as they meet, Barouffski overhears, attacks Leilah, and sets his mastiffs on Verplank in the garden; Verplank shoots and kills both dogs but is badly mauled. While Verplank recovers, Leilah nurses him and agrees to elope with him the next day. That night, at the opera and later at a supper, jealousy and tension boil over: Barouffski insults her escort d'Arcy and throws wine in his face, provoking a second duel. Leilah, torn between desire and her adopted creed that sorrow must be spiritually accepted rather than escaped, resolves at the last moment to renounce running away with Verplank and bear her situation as a karmic trial. Before she must tell him so, she witnesses the duel from her window: d'Arcy shoots Barouffski dead. Verplank arrives moments later; Leilah, weeping and smiling, tells him "the key of the prison" has turned. The novel ends with the two reconciled, planning to observe a period of propriety before beginning their life together again, as organ music from the neighboring church accompanies their reunion.

By Edgar Saltus · First published 1897 · Genre: Horror, Gothic Fiction, Psychological Fiction · 13 chapters · 54,150 words

First lines

When the clergyman had gone, the bride turned.

Before her was an open window before which was the open sea. In the air was a tropical languor, a savour of brine, the scent of lilies, the sound of mandolins that are far away. Below, in the garden, were masses of scarlet, high heaps of geranium blooms. A bit beyond was the Caprian blue of the San Diego Bay. There, a yacht rode, white and spacious. The yacht belonged to her husband who was beside her. She turned again and as passionately he embraced her; she coloured.

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The Monster is listed on Textopian as a novel by Edgar Saltus, dated 1897 CE.

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psychological · horror · gothic · dark · existential · society · morality · identity · fear · alienation · human nature · violence

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