Zofloya by Charlotte Dacre (ca. 1771 - 1825)

Victoria de Loredani lives the life of a fairy tale princess in Venice. She has everything one might desire and more, until the sinister Count Ardolph enters her world. The Count carries off Victoria's mother in an elopement, and sets off a series of dramatic events that begin to unhinge Victoria's life entirely. Passion, brutality, and murder begin to dominate the separated worlds of Victoria and her brother Leonardo. - Summary by Carolin