Elizabeth Gaskell 
Poor Clare 

A gothic short story from the hugely popular Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell, ’The Poor Clare’ was first published as part of a serial in ’Household Words’ a weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens. The story is narrated by an anonymous lawyer who has been hired to track down the heir to a sizeable fortune and finds himself caught up in the plight of the lonely Bridget Fitzgerald. Bridget’s daughter Mary disappeared many years ago and now her beloved dog, her only companion, has been found dead. What follows is a haunting story of curses, witchcraft, and revenge. –