Bulstrode's Sordid Past

I was really interested by Eliot's presentation of Bulstrode's secret. Time after time, she made comments that implied a deep, dark, secret; constantly foreshadowing the future reveal. For example, Eliot said, "It was not that he was in danger of legal punishment or of beggary..." (Page 380). This affirmation of the legality of Bulstrode's actions is something that could have come straight from Bulstrode's own mouth - and something that does.

With all the build-up Eliot presents for the secret, the actual reveal (to the reader, at least) is somewhat anti-climactic. While I was certainly taken aback by the deceit Bulstrode employed in purposefully lying to his first wife about the location of a daughter who would prevent Bulstrode's inheritance, it seemed like the repeated affirmations of the legality would require something much much worse.

However, something much worse does in fact happen - as a result of Bulstrode's original secret. Bulstrode, in his determination to protect his secret, kills the man who would threaten to tell it. It is interesting that it is Bulstrode's fear for his original "dark" secret that forces him to do some real damage. It almost seemed like a soap-opera - every plot twist imaginable seemed to come about as a result of Bulstrode's fear of Mr. Raffles: deceit, murder, problems within family relationships. And yet, I can't help but wonder if Bulstrode might have been better off if he were just upfront about the whole ordeal. In my mind, at least, the truly damning evidence against Bulstrode is not the secret in itself, but the means that he employs to keep the secret hidden.