1 - The secret at the core of this story is that Jack Agnew a soldier who randomly writes a letter to a librarian who previously caught his attention before going to war, is married to a young woman from the same town, Carstairs. This secret Jack holds is important because in his letters to the librarian he expresses desire and interest in her, yet he never mentions that he is involved at all with another woman. This is kept from the librarian as well as the reader. We find out as soon as she does in reading the newspaper announcement of their wedding - as she has been keeping up with the news hoping to hear anything of this man.
-On a hot afternoon she was arranging fresh newspapers on the racks and his name jumped out at her like something in her feverish dreams. She read a short notice of his marriage to a Miss Grace Horne. Not a girl she knew. Not a Library user....there was no picture. Brown and creme piping. Such was the end, and had to be to her romance. (pg 18-19)-
2- This secret is like the first one I mentioned - by the same man - Jack and again, from Louisa the librarian.
- she finds a scrap of paper on her desk reading: 'I was engaged before i went overseas.'
He had been in the library that very evening. It had been a busy time, she had often left the desk to find a book for somebody or to straighten up the papers or to put some books on the shelves. He had been in the same room with her, watched her, and taken his chance. But never made himself known. (pg 18)-
After he gets home from the war he doesnt tell Louisa hes back(another secret) he comes and checks out the books she recommended to him without her knowing(another secret) and THEN he sees her in the library but she doesnt see him. This secret is a secret of himself. He keeps secret his presence..i believe the reason being that if he were to see her in person it would get him into alot of trouble and he would have alot of explaining to do and would have to act on his prior declarations of his feelings for her and come clean about the first secret of being married. Not to mention he would then need to decide what to do about keeping with his word of his feelings for Louisa (he claimed he loved her and was happy she didnt have a sweetheart(pg 11) yet he was married. This is like lieing to cover a previous lie - its a secret on a secret in order to not hurt Louisa, himself, or his wife and kids, leaving no room for regret. In both of these secrets he is keeping his presence and the reality of his life a secret. He has fabricated - well more like omitted truth from Louisa in order to build some fantasy/delusional relationship with her and in both cases is hesitant to actually put himself in the reality of the situation. I felt bothered and offended for Louisa when i read that he had been in the library but was sneaky and avioded her. Louisa's feeling of having a thirst for somthing/someone and having them be in control of your access to it and denying it to you is confusing and hurtful. So i see this in both of his secrets, as well as his reasons for keeping himself from her as being done in order to not hurt Louisa's feelings.
3- If he were truthful about either of these secrets; and seen by Louisa in person it would be like a tease for her and tells me as a reader what kind of man this confusing Jack Agnew is. He is a man unwilling to comprimise his morals and values of a husband and father on a whim because of his feelings for another woman - basically a stranger. You must understand why he continued to keep these secrets, and himself from Louisa to understand the narrative of the story. I think it is reflective of the underlying message in this story that there is reality and there is the realities you create for yourself, the possibilities we all open or close when making choices. Who knows what would have happened - how life would have changed for these two characters if Jack and Louisa took a chance on each other. Thats the mystery of life though, and makes a good example of the point that the author is trying to make in this story - what if...?
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