← The Dead Secret

The Dead Secret · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins.

Read with companionsBook page

Each chapter has a companion in the reader — open a free preview to see notes beside the text.

  1. Chapter 1

    Book I

    The novel opens with the introduction of the Treverton family and the mysterious circumstances surrounding Mrs. Treverton's death. Sarah Leeson, a servant, is involved in a secret oath and hides a letter, setting the stage for the central mystery of the story.

  2. Chapter 2

    The Twenty-Third of August, 1829

    In the early hours of August 23, 1829, Sarah Leeson is summoned to the deathbed of her mistress, Mrs. Treverton, who is dying of a terrible disease. Mrs. Treverton, a former actress, insists on speaking privately with Sarah, having sent her husband away. She makes Sarah swear oaths on a Bible: not to destroy a written paper after her death, not to take it away if she leaves the house, and to give it to her master. Before she can finish the third oath, she dies. Sarah hides the paper in her bosom as the doctor and servants enter.

  3. Chapter 3

    II: The Child

    Sarah Leeson, tormented by the secret letter she and her dying mistress wrote, struggles with the weight of her oath. She nearly burns the letter but is startled by a moving curtain, which she interprets as a supernatural sign. She resolves to give the letter to Captain Treverton, searches the house, and finally finds him in the nursery comforting his daughter Rosamond, which overwhelms her with emotion.

  4. Chapter 4

    III: The Hiding of the Secret

    Sarah Leeson, tormented by guilt and fear, hides the secret letter written on Mrs. Treverton's deathbed in the Myrtle Room of Porthgenna Tower. After a restless night, she wanders the deserted north garden, resolves to leave the house secretly, writes a farewell note to Captain Treverton, and hides the letter to protect others from its contents.

  5. Chapter 5

    Book II

    The narrative shifts to focus on the characters and events surrounding Porthgenna Tower, introducing new dynamics and deepening the mysteries of the past.

Free preview

30 more chapter companions sit beside the text in BetterReads — open a free preview to unlock the rest.

30 more companions → free preview
  1. Chapter 6I: Fifteen Years After
  2. Chapter 7II: The Sale of Porthgenna Tower
  3. Chapter 8III: The Bride and Bridegroom
  4. Chapter 9Book III
  5. Chapter 10I: Timon of London
  6. Chapter 11II: Will They Come?
  7. Chapter 12III: Mrs. Jazeph
  8. Chapter 13IV: The New Nurse
  9. Chapter 14V: A Council of Three
  10. Chapter 15VI: Another Surprise
  11. Chapter 16Book IV
  12. Chapter 17I: A Plot Against the Secret
  13. Chapter 18II: Outside the House
  14. Chapter 19III: Inside the House
  15. Chapter 20IV: Mr. Munder on the Seat of Judgment
  16. Chapter 21V: Mozart Plays Farewell
  17. Chapter 22Book V
  18. Chapter 23I: An Old Friend and a New Scheme
  19. Chapter 24II: The Beginning of the End
  20. Chapter 25III: Approaching the Precipice
  21. Chapter 26IV: Standing on the Brink
  22. Chapter 27V: The Myrtle Room
  23. Chapter 28VI: The Telling of the Secret
  24. Chapter 29Book VI
  25. Chapter 30I: Uncle Joseph
  26. Chapter 31Waiting and Hoping
  27. Chapter 32III: The Story of the Past
  28. Chapter 33IV: The Close of Day
  29. Chapter 34V: Forty Thousand Pounds
  30. Chapter 35VI: The Dawn of a New Life