When Shadows Die

When Shadows Die

When Shadows Die, by E. D. E. N. Southworth, continues the saga of the Force family as they travel through Europe during the American Civil War while entangled in matters of love, disguised villainy, and family honor. The Earl of Enderby and his sister Mrs. Force reunite with Abel Force and his children at Baden-Baden, where the invalid earl's health steadily improves under the influence of travel and family company, even as Abel Force develops chronic rheumatism. Odalite and her cousin Leonidas ("Le"), long betrothed but kept apart by an unresolved prior marriage complication, snatch what time they can before Le must return to naval duty in America, eventually receiving orders to the Mediterranean that reunite him with the family in Genoa and Nice. The outbreak of the Civil War shatters the family's peace: Le is recalled to his ship, the Eagle, and the Forces receive alarming letters from home describing neighbors and kin scattered across both armies, including old Capt. Gideon Grandiere and young Roland Bayard, secretly betrothed to little Rosemary Hedge, who are feared to have turned privateer aboard the Kitty. Meanwhile Lord Enderby, restored to vigor, unexpectedly proposes marriage to Rosemary, only to learn she considers herself bound in childhood engagement to Roland; he accepts her devotion to Roland gracefully and the two remain close friends. As the war drags on, the family resolves to return home to aid the wounded, and Enderby chooses to accompany them to America. Aboard ship they encounter Capt. Grandiere, who recounts how his vessel, the Kitty, was seized by the pirate/blockade-runner Argente under the notorious Capt. Silver, and how Roland was taken captive rather than volunteering. Startlingly, Lord Enderby recognizes Silver as Byrne Stukely, a base doppelgänger of Angus Anglesea—the disgraced impostor who once nearly married Odalite under Anglesea's stolen name. This revelation means Odalite was never truly bound by that earlier ceremony and is entirely free to marry Le. Arriving in America, the family learns that the Argente has been captured by Le's own ship, the Eagle, and brought into port under his command, with Silver and his mate—revealed to be Roland Bayard, using the alias Craven Cloud—held prisoner. Roland's silence about his time aboard the pirate ship endangers him: he refuses to testify against Silver because the captain has convinced him he is in fact Roland's real father, a claim Capt. Grandiere and others fiercely disbelieve. The strain of this news causes Mrs. Force to collapse into a mysterious, severe breakdown, leaving behind a sealed confessional manuscript addressed only to her husband, Abel Force, hinting at a long-hidden secret tied to Anglesea's shadow over her past. Abel Force, alone, begins reading his wife's hidden testimony—"The Story of a Withered Heart"—which unfolds Elfrida's own lonely, loveless childhood as the neglected daughter of the Earl of Enderby, raised in the desolate manor of Weirdwaste after her mother's death and her father's remarriage. Isolated for years with only servants and tutors, she is finally brought to vibrant Brighton in her teens, where she falls under the fascination of the young, charming Angus Anglesea and is introduced to the beautiful, magnetic Italian, Prince Luigi Saviola—an encounter that the narrative signals will prove the fateful turning point of her secret history, the "shadow" whose eventual death or revelation the title anticipates. The section closes with the reunited family anxiously divided between joy—Odalite's newfound freedom to marry Le, the return of old friends like Miss Susannah Grandiere, Mrs. Hedge, Sam Grandiere, and the outspoken Miss Sibby Bayard—and dread, as Roland's fate hangs on an unresolved paternity claim, Mrs. Force lies gravely ill, and her confession promises to expose a long-buried scandal connecting her past to the very villain, Stukely/Silver, now facing trial for piracy.

By Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth · First published 1882 · Genre: Domestic Fiction, Romance, Melodrama · 49 chapters · 101,923 words

First lines

The Earl of Enderby and his sister, Mrs. Force, acting under the directions of the earl's doctor, now set out for Germany, and in due time reached Baden-Baden. Their apartments, which had been secured by telegram, were ready for them.

They had one night's rest from the journey, and were waiting for their breakfast to be served in their private parlor, when they were surprised by the entrance of Mr. Force and all his party.

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When Shadows Die is listed on Textopian as a novel by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth, dated 1882 CE.

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Victorian era · Gothic romance · Melodrama · Domestic fiction · Sentimental romance · Historical fiction · Post-Civil War · European setting · Family drama · Betrayal and redemption · Gothic mystery · Trust and deception

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More by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth