# The Beginning of Great Surprises explained — The Leavenworth Case > Chapter companion for The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green. ## What happens The narrator reflects on days of little progress, observing Mr. Clavering's avoidance and Mr. Harwell's stoic reliability. He confronts Mary Leavenworth about Eleanore's situation, revealing that Eleanore herself told Mary about the key being in her possession. The narrator presses Mary for information, but she denies knowledge of Eleanore's motives, leading to a tense exchange about the accusation Mary made against Eleanore. ## Themes in this chapter ### Secrecy and Truth The narrator presses Mary for the truth about Eleanore's silence and the key, while Mary withholds information and denies knowledge. ### Guilt and Innocence Eleanore's innocence is debated; the key and her silence create suspicion, and Mary's accusation is recalled. ### Family and Loyalty Mary and Eleanore are cousins; the narrator appeals to Mary's loyalty to help Eleanore, but Mary is evasive. ## Character check-ins ### The Narrator Describes his frustration with lack of progress, observes Harwell and Mary, and confronts Mary about Eleanore's key and the accusation. ### Mary Leavenworth Shows agitation, haughty and feverish behavior; reveals Eleanore told her about the key; denies knowledge of Eleanore's motives; becomes defensive when reminded of her accusation. ### Eleanore Leavenworth Mentioned as the subject of suspicion; her silence about the key is discussed; she allegedly told Mary about the key. ### Mr. Harwell Described as an excellent amanuensis, stiff, unbending, sombre, reliable; never speaks of Eleanore or the family trouble. ### Henry Clavering Forsakes his usual haunts, depriving the narrator of opportunity to make his acquaintance. ### Mr. Gryce Mentioned as being present with the narrator when they overheard Mary's accusation. ## Key lines > This continual beating against a stone wall, for thus I regarded it, became at last almost unendurable. The narrator feels he is making no progress and finds the situation frustrating. _Expresses the narrator's sense of futility in his investigation._ > Only her hitherto spotless reputation, and the efforts of one who, notwithstanding appearances, believes in her innocence, keeps her so long from the clutch of the officers of justice. Eleanore's good name and the narrator's belief in her innocence are the only things preventing her arrest. _Highlights the precariousness of Eleanore's position._ > I longed to break this silence as we shiver glass: by shouting the name of Eleanore through those gilded rooms and satin-draped vestibules. The narrator wants to shatter the oppressive silence by openly discussing Eleanore. _Illustrates the narrator's desperation to address the unspoken tension._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se/chapters/xvii-the-beginning-of-great-surprises - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_leavenworth_case_se/chapters