William Teason - book cover for "We Have Always Lived in the Castle"

Ormund drip-feeds him that affection and, as a result, keeps him controlled. [...] He would look at me with literally misty eyes, and I could see the love and the need. This boy deprived of a parent, a loving individual, a mentor. He would look into these eyes of this vicious, manipulative man and see gratitude and love. It was so fucking charged.

One can easily imagine the following exclamations uttered by Clarissa, Pamela, or Emily in the depths of Udolpho: “The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner” (39; ch. 2); “Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious” (56; ch. 3); “I came back to my room and threw myself on my knees. It is then so near the end? To-morrow! To-morrow! Lord, help me, and those to whom I am dear!” (70; ch. 4). In fact, these are all sentences from Harker’s journal.