Summary
Summary of The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret
The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 9 h 5 min7 h 15 min fast, 10 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 130,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
Lily's death hides a living prisoner
Lily Lawrence should be preparing to marry Lancelot Darling. Instead, her father finds her in wedding satin with a jeweled dagger in her hand, and a jury declares her death a suicide. Dr. Pratt knows something the mourners do not: Lily lies in a deathlike trance.
He offers that secret to Harold Colville, whose love Lily has rejected. Their plan to remove her from the family vault turns an apparent tragedy into a crime. When her father and Lancelot open the coffin, it is empty.
Key idea 2
Lily discovers another woman in captivity
Held in an old house, Lily has refused Colville's demand that she marry him.
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Key idea 3
Shelton follows evidence instead of ghosts
Detective Shelton does not accept a ghost as an explanation.
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Key idea 4
Queenie's admirer brings gifts and dread
Queenie Lyle wants to attend a grand ball, but her family's money troubles leave her without a dress.
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Key idea 5
Queenie returns carrying an unnamed secret
Queenie refuses Captain Ernscliffe's proposal, angering her mother, though her father will not force her to marry.
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Key idea 6
A wedding gift becomes a trap
Queenie's wedding offers hope, but fear follows her to the ceremony.
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Key idea 7
Possession and jealousy imitate love
Mrs. Vance and Sydney present their jealousy as love, yet each is willing to hurt another woman to get what she wants.
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Key idea 8
Ghostly shocks conceal human schemes
The narrator leads the reader through hidden houses and sudden revelations like a lively storyteller.
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Key idea 9
Being wronged does not erase goodness
Lily and Queenie both struggle against lives arranged for them by force, deceit and jealousy.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret
About 9 h 30 min to read.Start freeWho it’s for
You will love these books if you enjoy old-fashioned melodrama, secret identities, daring escapes, detectives on a trail, and heroines who stand up to wicked schemers.
What this book is
A bride lies dead in her wedding satin the day before her wedding, a small jeweled dagger in her hand. A jury calls it suicide. Yet a doctor with restless black eyes sees life beneath her stillness, and after the funeral her coffin is found empty.
This volume holds two Victorian sensation novels by Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller, an American writer who died in 1937. The Bride of the Tomb follows Lily Lawrence, a New York banker's daughter. Queenie's Terrible Secret follows Queenie Lyle, a pretty seventeen-year-old who sells a painted fan to buy a ball dress. You get quick turns, hidden schemes, ghostly visions and heroines who refuse to give in.
In this summary
- 1Lily's death hides a living prisonerFree
- 2Lily discovers another woman in captivity
- 3Shelton follows evidence instead of ghosts
- 4Queenie's admirer brings gifts and dread
- 5Queenie returns carrying an unnamed secret
- 6A wedding gift becomes a trap
- 7Possession and jealousy imitate love
- 8Ghostly shocks conceal human schemes
- 9Being wronged does not erase goodness
A bride's apparent suicide hides a crime
Lily Lawrence is eighteen, rich, loved and due to marry Lancelot Darling the next day. On a June morning her father forces open her locked door and finds her on the carpet in her wedding satin, a jeweled dagger in her hand. A coroner's jury rules that she took her own life in a moment of madness.
The widow Mrs. Vance says Lily had strange spells of depression. Dr. Pratt, a tall, dark physician, gives his evidence in a clipped voice. At the funeral his eyes miss nothing. Afterward he calls on Harold Colville, a rich man who loved Lily and was turned away.
Pratt says Lily was never dead but lay in a deathlike trance called catalepsy, and he will sell the secret for ten thousand dollars. The two agree to take her from the family vault that night. When Lancelot and Mr. Lawrence lift the coffin lid, they find only the shape of her body. A staged death can hide a living victim.
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Check yourself
What does Dr. Pratt reveal about Lily's apparent death?
Right. “Pratt says Lily was never dead but lay in a deathlike trance called catalepsy, and he will sell the secret for ten thousand dollars.”Not quite. “Pratt says Lily was never dead but lay in a deathlike trance called catalepsy, and he will sell the secret for ten thousand dollars.”
How does Queenie's father respond when he hears about her missing year?
Right. “He forgives her, though she will not name the man.”Not quite. “He forgives her, though she will not name the man.”
What question about women links both novels?
Right. “Both books ask whether a woman can be wronged and still stay good, and both answer yes.”Not quite. “Both books ask whether a woman can be wronged and still stay good, and both answer yes.”
Go deeper: the whole of The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret
About 9 h 30 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 130,200 words
- Reading timeAbout 9 h 5 min
Questions about The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret
What is The Bride of the Tomb about?
It follows Lily Lawrence, a New York banker's daughter who seems to kill herself the night before her wedding. In fact a doctor and a rejected suitor steal her from the vault and hold her prisoner, while a detective starts to follow the clues.
What is Queenie's Terrible Secret about?
It tells of Queenie Lyle, a lively girl who sells her painted fan to attend a ball and attracts a handsome captain. A mysterious year in her past shadows her marriage and brings enemies and a stage career.
Are these stories true?
No, they are fictional Victorian sensation novels by Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller, who died in 1937. They were written for a popular audience and use invented people, settings in New York and London, and many dramatic turns.
What does the word catalepsy mean in The Bride of the Tomb?
Catalepsy is a rare condition in which a person lies stiff and unresponsive, looking dead while still alive. In the story Dr. Pratt uses the idea to explain why Lily seems lifeless and why he can save her.
Is this book easy to follow?
Yes, the chapters are short and each one moves the plot forward. The narrator speaks directly to the reader, the scenes are vivid, and the villains, heroines and heroes are easy to tell apart.
Cite this edition
Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bride-of-the-tomb-and-queenies-terrible-secret.
Miller, A. M., Mrs. (2026). The bride of the tomb, and Queenie's terrible secret. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bride-of-the-tomb-and-queenies-terrible-secret
Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bride-of-the-tomb-and-queenies-terrible-secret.
@book{miller2026bride,
author = {Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs.},
title = {The Bride of the Tomb, and Queenie's Terrible Secret},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-bride-of-the-tomb-and-queenies-terrible-secret}
}
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