Secresy

Eliza Fenwick’s epistolary novel, Secrecy tells the story of Sibella Valmont, an orphan who has been raised by her stern uncle, Valmont. He raises her almost entirely in seclusion, he lives in a castle surrounded by a moat, and Sibella is not allowed off the castles grounds. Her only companion is Clement, Valmont’s adopted son, who we will come to learn is actually his illegitimate son. Clement and Sibella love each other, and Valmont it would seem does not approve so he sends Clement from the castle and orders them to love each other as siblings and nothing more. Sibella’s only friend and communication with the outside world is Caroline Ashburn.
Caroline and Clement have a mutual friend in a Mr. Murden. They both extol Sibella’s virtues so ardently that it piques Murden’s interest and he finds himself falling in love with the idea of her. During this same time Clement is recalled to the castle where Valmont once again orders him and Sibella to love each other only as siblings. Clement tells Valmont he will. Sibella then decides that they will marry each other; of course locked in a castle they cannot have an actual marriage ceremony, so they instead have sex and Sibella considers herself married to Clement, he however does not agree. She drops her surname of Valmont in all her subsequent letters, Clement, still writes to Murden that he will make her his wife, not that he already has. It is the secrecy of this act that gives the novel its title. Sibella becomes pregnant, a fact that is hidden until the very end.
Murden in the meantime has hidden himself in the hermitage on the castle’s grounds in order to catch a glimpse of Sibella. None of his friends in society know where he is. He appears before her and she believes him an apparition. He falls very deeply into love with her. He then writes to Caroline and explains the situation. Caroline believes that Sibella loves Clement out of habit and of not knowing any better so she decides to orchestrate their getting together. Unfortunately no one knows of Sibella’s pregnancy at this time. Valmont shares his guardianship of Sibella with another, an Earl who has lost his fortune and decides that it would be beneficial if his son, Lord Filmar were to marry Sibella. Valmont refuses. However this does not stop Filmar’s pursuit. He visits the castle but is denied an audience with Sibella. He then devises a plan where he would remove her from the castle, but when he is executing it he runs into Murden and also believes him to be a ghost and is scared off his plan.
Sibella is unaware that she is actually her father’s heir and a very rich woman. Her uncle let her believe that she has no money of her own and is dependant on him. Murden overhears Lord Filmar discussing her wealth and tells her that she is actually not dependant on anyone. When she confronts Valmont, who must at this point know Sibella is pregnant, he locks her away and denies her even Caroline’s correspondence. Caroline then devises a plan by which Murden will help her escape using the hermitage he had been using. Their plan works, except Murden goes into shock over seeing Sibella pregnant. And then she in an effort to get to Clement escapes him and goes with Lord Filmar. Caroline finally tracks her down and brings Sibella to her house. However, by this time Clement has married Caroline’s mother for her money after being cut off by Valmont. Sibella learns this and has her baby, which is stillborn. Murden then dies, still in shock over Sibella’s pregnancy, and Sibella soon follows.