Free The Crimes of Charlotte Bronte by James Tully

was probably because
he
had had a hand in all of them and it showed.
    Apart from being cross about what was being said, Miss Charlotte was cock-a-hoop at having her story in print. Straightaway she wrote to some well-known writers telling them about her book, and when she gave me the letters to take to the post she went to great pains to tell me how important the people were. I cannot remember all the names, but Thackeray and Lewes have stuck in my mind. She then began another book, which I now know was called
Shirley
.
    On the other hand, Miss Anne, as usual, said very little about
her
book, but stuck grimly to writing another that I had seen her busy on for some months. I had not dared to ask Miss Charlotte what
her
new book was about, but I felt able to do so with Miss Anne. She did not answer me directly, and now I know why. It was called
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
, and it would seem that she got her ideas for it from Master Branwell’s conduct.
    As for Miss Emily, well, her manner was very odd once the early excitement was over, and I was at a loss to understand it. It was evident that she had been contented enough to send her book to be looked at by the publisher, and I remember her saying that she was going to write to him about a second book that she had in mind. Then, though, shortly after
Wuthering Heights
was printed, she withdrew into herself completely and nobody, not even me, could get a word out of her. That both puzzled and bothered me greatly, for I thought I had become something of a favourite with her, and it seemed to worry Miss Charlotte as well because she remarked upon it several times. The trouble was that neither of us knew what Miss Emily did, and only later did we find out that the fact of the matter was that she felt very guilty about Master Branwell.
    She had watched him sinking deeper and deeper into misery because he felt such a failure, and because he was lonely and his family wanted naught to do with him. Yet there
she
was, now a known writer because of a book which was, at the very least, founded upon a story that was his.
    As I know from having seen some of her earlier poems, Miss Emily had always had great pity for outcasts, so I know full well how much stronger must her feelings have been for her own brother – with all his faults. It is true that she was kinder to him than were his other sisters, but now she knew that that had not been enough. She had not realized what awful feelings she would have of letting him down once the book was published, and now she wished with all her heart that she had had nothing to do with it.
    Her deep feeling of guilt was not made less when Master Branwell learned that his sisters’ works had been printed. He had always thought of
Wuthering Heights
as being his path to money and respect, and had never dreamed that not only would it be stolen from him, but that his part in it would not be told. It all hurt him very much, and Miss Emily told Mr Nicholls, who later told me, that Master Branwell spoke to her about it, but only gently and seemed more sad than angry that she, of all people, could have done that to him. What he did not know, and Miss Emily could not tell him, was that she would have been very happy to have told everyone of his part in it – in fact she had wanted very much to do so – but Mr Nicholls would not have it, and by that time she could gainsay him nothing.
    Mr Nicholls has told me that he had a slight hope that some of the cash from the book might come his way, but he knew full well that if Master Branwell’s name had been put to it in any way he would never cease demanding a share of the money. So, very much against her nature, Miss Emily gained a pledge of secrecy from him by way of half-promises and a few shillings from Mr Nicholls.
    Of course, it did not work, and Miss Emily, with all that she knew of her brother, should not have expected that it would. Everything was well whilst Master Branwell was sober,