The Haunted Chamber, by “The Duchess.” This is a mid-19th century potboiler with various and sundry evil machinations.
The Duchess wrote many cheap novels. The Library of Congress does not provide her real name, yet has her dates as (1855?-1897). The American Women’s Dime Novel Project reports that “The Duchess” is Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, and according to the Clonakilty Museum, she is the originator of the phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
Thanks to Mary Meehan for Post-Processing this text!