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Volume 1, Chapter 6
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lady Audley’s Secret, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Women and Power in Victorian England
Appearances and Deception
Poverty and Wealth
Madness
Summary
Analysis
A year later, George and Robert are back at Fig-tree Court. George still feels intense sorrow over his wife. He remarks to Robert about how, unlike physical injuries, one cannot tell a person’s emotional injuries from the outside. George also feels regret that he cannot fulfill the role of a father to his own child.
George’s words add to the argument that appearances can be misleading and easily misinterpreted. One cannot tell what a person has suffered just by looking at them. George’s grief has a lasting impact on his character.
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Themes
Robert suggests he and George go hunting at Audley Court. Robert admits that he does not like hunting but wants to enjoy his uncle’s company and meet his new aunt. George passively agrees to go with him, as he agrees to everything his friend says.
Robert, unused to the serious issues of life, assumes that his friend needs to indulge in the upper-class’s hobbies, of which hunting was a common activity.
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Robert writes to Alicia asking if he and George can visit. Alicia writes back saying that Lady Audley claims that she is too sick to have “great rough men” visit. Robert says they can go to Essex (the neighborhood of Audley Court) to stay in a hotel and go fishing. Robert places Alicia’s letter in his desk, not knowing that it will someday be crucial to the only criminal case he will ever investigate.
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George and Robert go to the decaying village of Audley, three-quarters of a mile away from Audley Court. Meanwhile, Sir Michael has transformed the interior of the mansion with luxurious decorations to compliment his pretty wife. Alicia’s contempt for Lady Audley’s “childishness and frivolity” grows. Everyone else in the neighborhood adores Lady Audley, whose rosy lips, button nose, and golden curls give her an innocent, youthful beauty.
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George and Robert lounge in the peaceful countryside, but the narrator reminds the reader that people in the countryside commit murders just as violent as those in the city. Sir Michael, Alicia, and Lady Audley pass through the village and Robert runs out to greet them while George hangs back. Alicia wants to meet George, but Lady Audley says she is tired and wants to go home. Sir Michael invites the men to dinner the following day.
Alicia teases Robert about falling in love with Lady Audley just like everyone else does, even though she thinks he’s ultimately too frivolous to really fall in love. Robert returns to George proclaiming that he has in fact, fallen in love with his aunt. George sighs and thinks sadly about when he first fell for his wife.
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Back at Audley Court, Phoebe attends to Lady Audley. Lady Audley is much friendlier with her maid than she is with more upper-class ladies. Lady Audley tells Phoebe that some people say that the two women look alike. With some hair dye and rouge, Phoebe would be just as beautiful as Lady Audley. Lady Audley then asks Phoebe to go to London to run a secret errand for her.
The next morning, Lady Audley receives a telegram from her former employer, Mrs. Vincent. The telegram states that Mrs. Vincent is very ill and wants to see Lady Audley before she dies. Sir Michael says he will go with her.
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