In this passage from Lady Audley's Secret, the author digs into Sir Michael's emotional turmoil upon recognizing that Lucy cannot and does not truly love him. In order to do so, Braddon deploys a simile comparing his heart to a corpse, appealing to the reader’s sense of pathos:
He walked straight out of the house, this foolish old man, because there was some strong emotion at work in his breast—neither joy nor triumph, but something almost akin to disappointment—some stifled and unsatisfied longing which lay heavy and dull at his heart, as if he had carried a corpse in his bosom. He carried the corpse of that hope which had died at the sound of Lucy's words.
The simile in this passage really drives home the heartbreak and disappointment Sir Michael is feeling. He leaves Lucy feeling "as if he had carried a corpse in his bosom." His obsessive love for her has died, and his heart has something “heavy and dull” lying on it. This comparison does not merely hint at his sadness. It amplifies the sheer weight of his disillusionment, suggesting that his hopes and dreams concerning Lucy's love are as dead and lifeless as a "corpse."
The narrator also imbues the passage with pathos. Braddon ensures, in this passage, that readers not only understand but deeply feel the emotional burden Sir Michael is bearing. Terms like "foolish old man" and the repeated references to the "corpse of that hope" serve to heighten the reader's sympathy for this sad predicament. Her choice of words portrays Sir Michael as a tragic figure, a man whose love and hopes have been cruelly dashed. This deeply mournful portrayal is further compounded by the revelation that, despite these internal revelations, Lucy and Michael will still maintain the façade of a "happy couple."
When George and Robert go to Ventnor to investigate the mystery of George's wife, the narrator employs the sensory languages of smell and sight and appeals to the reader’s sense of pathos. This brings the scene of Captain Maldon's impoverished cabin to life for Braddon's audience and gives them some context about the circumstances from which Lucy came:
George mechanically followed his friend into the little front parlor—dusty, shabbily furnished, and disorderly, with a child's broken toys scattered on the floor, and the scent of stale tobacco hanging about the muslin window-curtains.
The visual imagery of the room being "dusty," "shabbily furnished," and "disorderly," combined with the detail of "a child's broken toys scattered on the floor," evokes a clear, moving picture of neglect. These elements hint at the hardships faced by Lucy's father and son, who are living in the cabin. The “broken” toys strewn everywhere suggest the boy lives a life of deprivation. Through this, Braddon also implies that Maldon’s daughter might have experienced similar treatment when under his care.
The cabin doesn’t only look badly taken care of. The scent imagery of "stale tobacco" reinforces the sense of neglect and dinginess the passage contains. The lingering and persistent odor of Maldon’s tobacco-smoke in the raggedy curtains suggests an environment that has not been well-maintained.
The scene immediately appeals to the reader’s sense of pathos, as the pitiful images of Georgey suffering under a lack of care are deeply troubling. And later in the novel, the stark contrast between Lucy’s past life (presumably in similar conditions) and her present elevated status ultimately evokes sympathy for her from the reader—sympathy that might be otherwise hard to obtain. It offers context to her later actions, providing a backdrop against which her ambitions, crimes, and perceived selfishness can be understood.
