And then there is Silas, whose dark past includes the suspicious suicide of one of his creditors. He is entrusted with the care of his niece, Maud Ruthyn, upon the death of her father, but his goal is to seize control of her inheritance, either by marrying her to his loutish son, Dudley, or by ensuring that she does not live long enough to collect it. Le Fanu is certainly the best writer of the three novelists, and much of the impact of Uncle Silas comes from his slow, subtle