Angelina: Or, The Mystery of St. Mark's Abbey

ANGELINA; or, The Mystery of St. Mark's Abbey A serialized Gothic romance by Thomas Prest, originally published in *The Penny Sunday Times and People's Police Gazette* and collected here in 1841. Two peasant girls, cousins Angelina and Laura, visit the ruins of St. Mark's Abbey despite warnings of hauntings and robbers. Sheltering from a violent thunderstorm inside, they encounter a ghostly female figure in white, bearing a wand and a blazing star on her forehead. The apparition fixes its unearthly gaze upon Angelina and speaks, commanding her to approach. Laura faints; Angelina, gathering courage, demands to know the figure's identity. The narrative establishes a mystery centered on Angelina's origins—her parents died in infancy and she was raised by her uncle, a humble but honest cottager. The figure's supernatural appearance masks an unresolved earthly secret.