Which of these characters has been kept in the dark? Is it proud, egotistical George Western, who at first assumes his wife has never loved another? Is it his wife Cecilia, who chafes against the restraints society places on 19th-century women? In this classic tale of jealousy, guilt, excessive pride, and compulsion, Trollope gives us a lean, psychological portrait of the destructive effect of past secrets on a marriage.