The Secret by Charlotte Brontë

Hesperus Press is going to publish this month (apparently the release is March, 31) another piece of Charlotte Brontë's juvenilia, The Secret.

Hesperus Press is well-known for its beautiful editions of less known novelettes or short stories by great authors. They have published The Green Dwarf, The Foundling and The Spell by Charlotte Brontë and a selection of poems of Emily Brontë with the name Poems of Solitude.

We don't know the details of this new edition. But we know something about The Secret as the manuscript happens to be in the University of Missouri:

"The Secret” focuses on Charlotte’s heroine, Marian Hume, the child bride of the dark, brooding and temperamental Marquis of Douro (also known as Arthur Wellesley II and the Duke of Zamorna, the oldest son of Charlotte’s hero, the fictionalized Duke of Wellington). The story is narrated by the Marquis’ younger brother, Charles Wellesley. While shopping in Verdopolis the Marquis encounters Miss Foxley, Marian’s former governess, who manipulated Marian in an attempt to block their marriage several years earlier. Alarmed at the prospect of more interference, the Marquis imperiously forbids Marian to have any contact with Miss Foxley. Even so, Marian receives a midnight letter advising her to meet with her former governess in order to avoid an embarrassing scandal. She sneaks out of the Marquis’s palace under cover of darkness and confronts Miss Foxley about the situation, not knowing what to expect. After her arrival, Miss Foxley calls in a young man who claims to be Henry Percy, son of the terrible Lord Ellrington. Marian refuses to believe it is him because he looks so different, so he shows her a small token, which produces a strong reaction of fear and dread from her. Miss Foxley makes Marian swear not to consult with her husband on anything she has been told, then tells her to call on Lord Ellrington and gives her directions on how to open a secret box, which she says will contain the answer to another secret about Marian’s past.
Marian again has to sneak out of the palace to call on Lord Ellrington, an enemy of her husband the Marquis and a cruel and bloodthirsty man who is known for attempting to kill all of his sons. After dealing with Ellrington’s threats and cruel remarks, Marian opens the box and discovers a paper. She quickly reads its contents, and then burns it in the flame of the lamp in front of an astonished Lord Ellrington, who forces her to wait until dawn to return to the palace as punishment. Although her midnight excursions are almost found out, she manages to get back into the palace with the help of her lady-in-waiting.
Back at the palace, the Marquis of Douro detects that Marian is upset about something and flies into a rage when she refuses to tell him what is wrong. He guesses that she must have been in contact with Miss Foxley and is about to send her away forever when his father walks in. Although she promised not to discuss the matter with her husband, Marian reasons that she did not promise anything with respect to the Duke of Wellington. Within earshot of her husband, Marian then confesses everything and informs the reader of the secrets that have been uncovered: Henry Percy, thought to have drowned at sea years ago, was Marian’s betrothed long before she met the Marquis of Douro and has come back to claim her as his wife. Even more disturbing, the paper in the box revealed a pact between Marian’s mother and a former Lady Ellrington. The two ladies were such great friends that they decided to switch children, each bringing up the other’s child as her own. This means that Marian is not Marian Hume, but rather the daughter of her husband’s biggest political rival.
Both men, however, have information that reveals Miss Foxley’s machinations – the Marquis witnessed her purchasing the token and hiring a young man to impersonate Henry Percy, while the Duke of Wellington confirms that the arrangement between Lady Ellrington and Mrs. Hume was never carried out. The Marquis forgives Marian for her disobedience, Miss Foxley is sent into exile, and the story ends happily.

Categories: Books, Charlotte_Brontë, Juvenilia