Isola Chapter 17: The Secretary’s Confession and Marguerite’s Revelation

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Roberval announcing that four men were hanged for brawling and buried at sea. The secretary writes the event into the log. Marguerite watches him and longs to speak, but she cannot sleep that night. At dawn, she dresses softly and climbs to the deck, claiming she needs fresh air. Thick fog obscures everything below the waist. She finds the secretary standing at the rail. He asks why she came, and she demands the rest of his story.

The secretary recounts his early life: a poor apprentice who ruined a kidskin and was beaten so badly he could not stand. He resolved to run away under a harvest moon and walked alone to La Rochelle with little food. He hid in the stables behind Roberval's house, not knowing it was Roberval's. The stablemaster found him, and when the cook needed an errand boy, the secretary offered himself. He ran errands and later demonstrated his pen-mending skill to the steward. When asked to write the Our Father, he produced a beautiful hand, and the steward gave him copying work. He eventually became undersecretary and then secretary, copying letters and keeping accounts. Roberval favored him with clothes and meals and took him to Périgord.

There, the secretary first saw Marguerite, then a girl in an olive-green gown with a ring too big for her finger. He says he loved her even then, and later when she was bold, when she caught a purse, when she wrote Psalms, when she practiced the virginal, when she schemed to get away, and when Roberval read her letter and laughed. Marguerite touches his hand. The secretary tells her to go before she is missed. She returns to the cabin, where Damienne waits, and she dives into bed with skirts flying.

Key Events

Roberval has four men executed and orders the secretary to record it.
Marguerite cannot sleep and slips out at dawn, finding the secretary on the foggy deck.
She presses him to finish his story; he describes his apprenticeship, beating, and escape to La Rochelle.
He gains work as an errand boy in Roberval's household after the cook needs help.
The steward tests his writing after he mends a pen; the secretary writes the Our Father perfectly.
He becomes undersecretary and eventually secretary, earning Roberval's favor.
The secretary confesses he loved Marguerite from the time he first saw her in Périgord.
Marguerite touches his hand; he urges her to leave; she returns to Damienne.

Character Development

Marguerite acts on her curiosity and longing, initiating a secret meeting. She shows persistence in asking for the story and vulnerability in touching his hand.
The secretary reveals his difficult past and his long-hidden feelings. He moves from humble apprentice to trusted secretary through skill and luck. His confession deepens his character beyond a mere observer.
Damienne remains a quiet presence, suspicious or aware of Marguerite's absence but not intervening.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

Fog acts as a veil that conceals and intensifies intimacy; the characters can barely see each other, yet their conversation is more direct than ever.
Secrecy and confession drive the scene. Marguerite and the secretary meet in a liminal space away from the ship's social order, and he confesses both his past and his love.
Social mobility through literacy is evident: the secretary's ability to read and write lifts him from a beggar to the master's confidant.
The motif of watching and being watched recurs; the secretary had observed Marguerite for years before she knew him.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter provides the secretary's full backstory, revealing his origins and the skill that brought him into Roberval's circle. It also solidifies the romantic connection between Marguerite and the secretary, which was previously hinted. Their mutual confession—though one-sided in words—changes the dynamic of the voyage. The chapter also sets up potential conflict with Damienne, who may have witnessed Marguerite's absence.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Marguerite go to the deck at dawn, and what does she find?
She is restless after Roberval's announcement and longs to continue her conversation with the secretary. On deck, thick fog obscures the ship, and she sees him standing at the rail as if waiting.
How did the secretary rise from a poor apprentice to Roberval's secretary?
After running away from a cruel master, he hid in Roberval's stables, became an errand boy, demonstrated his pen-mending skill, and when tested could write beautifully. The steward gave him copying work, and he eventually replaced the former secretary.
What does the secretary confess about his feelings for Marguerite?
He says he loved her from the first time he saw her in Périgord—a girl in olive green with a ring too big—and continued to love her through every subsequent encounter, even when she schemed against Roberval.