The Dain Curse · Chapter
VII: The Curse explained
The narrator reads a confession letter from Edgar Leggett, but declares it a murder, not a suicide.
What happens
The narrator reads a confession letter from Edgar Leggett, but declares it a murder, not a suicide. Gabrielle Leggett accuses Mrs. Leggett of stabbing a man in the kitchen. The narrator accuses Mrs. Leggett of murdering her husband. Mrs. Leggett then reveals a horrifying past: she trained a young Gabrielle to kill her own mother, Lily Dain, as part of a twisted sibling rivalry. She gloats over her manipulation and the curse on the Dain bloodline. As Gabrielle screams and collapses, Mrs. Leggett draws a gun and flees, with Fitzstephan and the narrator in pursuit.
Themes in this chapter
The Curse and Fate
Mrs. Leggett explicitly invokes a curse on the Dain bloodline, claiming Gabrielle is doomed by inherited blackness of soul and blood.
Family and Dysfunction
The chapter reveals extreme sibling rivalry between Mrs. Leggett and Lily Dain, and the manipulation of Gabrielle as a tool for murder.
Gender and Victimization
Gabrielle is portrayed as a victim of her aunt's manipulation and her mother's murder, while Mrs. Leggett uses her gender to appear harmless.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Reads Leggett's confession, declares it murder, accuses Mrs. Leggett, and leads the investigation.
- Gabrielle Leggett
Accuses Mrs. Leggett of stabbing a man, then screams and collapses after Mrs. Leggett's revelation about her childhood.
- Mrs. Leggett
Revealed as the mastermind behind Lily Dain's murder, trained Gabrielle to kill, and flees with a gun.
- Owen Fitzstephan
Steadies Mrs. Leggett after Gabrielle's accusation, and is first to pursue her when she flees.
- Eric Collinson
Tries to calm Gabrielle and begs Mrs. Leggett to stop her tirade.
- Doctor Riese
Examines the body and declares the wound consistent with suicide, contradicting the narrator.
Key passages
“He didn't commit suicide. He was murdered.”
The narrator declares that Edgar Leggett was killed by someone else, not by his own hand.
Key turning point where the investigation shifts from suicide to murder.
“I taught her to kill her mother. Do you understand? I taught her, trained her, drilled her, rehearsed her.”
Mrs. Leggett confesses to systematically training Gabrielle as a child to murder her own mother.
Reveals the depth of Mrs. Leggett's manipulation and the origin of Gabrielle's trauma.
“You're cursed with the same black soul and rotten blood that she and I and all the Dains have had.”
Mrs. Leggett declares that Gabrielle is doomed by an inherited curse of evil and madness.
Central to the theme of the curse and fate, linking the Dain family to inherent corruption.