Gwendoline liked to sing and play the piano. Josiah Samuel Smith took over her home, Gabriel Chase, and passed himself off as her uncle, making Gwendoline his ward. He warped their perceptions, making Gwendoline believe her father had "gone to Java" and made mother and daughter forget their relationship to each other. Under the "tutelage" of Smith, Gwendoline could transform in an instant from a becoming Victorian maiden into an axe-wielding murderess.