The Mysterious Warning was written in 1795 and is now believed to have been written by Eliza Parsons, author of The Castle of Wolfenbach, which is also set in Germany. In common with Horrid Mysteries and The Necromancer, there are multiple perspectives told in the form of memoirs or letters. We begin with Ferdinand’s situation, moving to the Baron’s cruelty to Eugenia and the Count before returning to Fatima/Charlotte and the revelation of incest.

Count Renauld is the father of both Rhodophil and Ferdinand. The Count’s first wife is described as being of noble birth, haughty and proud. This allows the narrator to make the moral point that nobleness of heart is not confined to the rich who derive their superiority from their title rather than their behaviour. The lack of humility, based on nobility, is a common theme in novels of this time and is used to single out characters unworthy of our sympathy. When Caroline, a near relative of the Countess, comes to stay at the castle, the Count notices the contrast with his wife. In a fit of jealousy, the Countess assaults Caroline, rendering her unconscious. She justifies this behaviour based on a letter from her husband’s neglected mistress.

The letter contains an accusation of improper conduct towards Caroline, who is innocent of the charges. Later, when his wife dies in a riding accident, Count Renauld is free to marry Caroline, and Ferdinand is born. In addition, the Count had two daughters with his mistress Charlotte and Claudina; the younger marries Ferdinand and is the cause of his estrangement with his father. Again, this flags up another gothic theme of disinheritance. Ferdinand does not obtain his father’s forgiveness before he dies, but what he does not know is that his father had made a new will on his deathbed, forgiving his son and making provision for him and his grandson. It is not in Rhodophil’s interest to make this known.

Ferdinand’s secret marriage is contrasted with Louisa, who was brought up in solitude and naively falls for the charming Count Wolfran. He acknowledges his father would not give his consent to their marriage but deceives her into thinking that he has his own income and the patronage of his uncle. Their marriage is performed by Abbe Bouville, her guardian, with the Count’s servant as witness. Abbe gives her a certificate of marriage as proof of the ceremony. The Count insists they take a cottage under an assumed name and live inconspicuously until he can reconcile his father to the marriage. Unfortunately, after disclosing the existence of this document, it was stolen from her. This allows the Count to deny their marriage and arranges for her to be taken to a convent. This demonstrates the precarious position of young women without fortune who are open to exploitation.

With no fortune, Ferdinand believes he must provide for himself and enters the army, a common profession for a second son, leaving his wife and son in the care of his brother. However, Claudina grows accustomed to the castle’s luxury and begins to resent Ferdinand, believing had she waited, she might have married the older son and been Countess. Ferdinand hears ghostly voices which suggest his marriage has brought down the wrath of heaven and he should leave if he values his life. At this point, Claudina seems to have an attack of conscience and leaves to join a convent along with her daughter. There is no suggestion of forced imprisonment, unlike other Gothic novels, and she does not inform her husband, suggesting she does not want to be found. It is in this search for the convent where his wife resides that the reader is introduced to dark passages, dungeons and immense cruelty that the reader associates with the Gothic.

Eugenia, like Ferdinand, seeks to marry without her father’s permission but instead is forced to marry the Baron. On their wedding night, she escapes with the help of her maid and hides in the underground passages that link the castle and the church. When the Baron leaves to visit her ailing father, Eugenia makes her way to the castle of Count M, and they marry in the local parish church. She justifies this second marriage because she does not feel bound to the Count, as the ceremony was against her will.

Despite the birth of a daughter, their happiness is not long-lasting, as the Baron discovers them, detailing his revenge and cruel treatment in his journal. He imprisons them separately in the dungeon below the castle, including their young daughter. When the child dies due to the deplorable conditions, Eugenia becomes delirious, and the distress and sympathy we feel for a grieving mother are further compounded by the way he deals with the child’s body. Determined to have no witnesses, the Baron kills the servants Ardulph, Agnes and Peter; the only reason Francis escapes is that he had tied him up in the hunting lodge at the entrance. When the Baron tells him his master had fled for his life, Francis believes him. However, he was never allowed to see the prisoners. Liberation only comes when the Baron is dead and Ferdinand hears the prisoners cry for help.

At the end of the book, there is an interesting commentary on the politics of the time. There is a reference to Holy Roman Emperor Charles Sixth and his daughter Maria Theresa, mother of Marie Antoinette of France. Overcome by the Turks, the emperor sued for peace, and Ferdinand and Count M were captured. To enable communication with his captors, Ferdinand learns a little Turkish and talks to his captor, Heli, who permits him to walk outside the prison. Ferdinand comments on the ruins of the Roman Empire and how a great civilisation was destroyed by corruption, ambition and civil war. He speaks of liberty, the undermining of justice, false patriotism and the encouragement of sedition amongst the lower classes, sentiments which could be applied to the French Revolution and the subsequent terror.

Heli, characterised as Turkish and Muslim, gives a cultural insight into the treatment of women. He speaks of having many women in the castle who are confined to the garden for their amusement, this being the only liberty the prophet and the custom of the country allow. His justification for more than one wife is that they keep each other company. Western ideas of reading and information, he maintains, lead to many disgracing their families by learning to deceive and betray their husbands. Ferdinand’s counterargument is that undue restraint and severe conduct on the part of a husband or parent often produce the vices they seek to avoid. He also argues that the prophet gave liberty and free will to all, and such customs undermine this.

Unlike her earlier work, this novel is not limited to the female perspective and seeks to engage more with politics and women’s rights. It shows the eighteenth-century prejudice against the Turks and their religious customs, along with the traditional Gothic view of the vulnerability of women in society.