A secret spreads as a secret
In a closed social world, news travels fastest when each teller passes it on as a confidence and asks the listener to say nothing. The promise of secrecy doesn't stop the spread; it is the very form the spreading takes.
Avoidance reveals what it hides
Steering clear of someone you are drawn to takes real force against yourself. Yet the other person notices the avoidance and reads it as a sign of feeling, so the effort to hide desire ends up exposing it.
Jealousy demands to know more
A partner told something painful cannot stop pressing for the remaining details, even while admitting he has no right to complain. Knowing part of a hurtful truth feeds the urge to know the rest instead of settling it.
Consent from duty isn't love
A suitor can get everything he asked for and still be miserable if the yes comes from obedience rather than feeling. He wants to know what she feels, because a match made only to satisfy her mother's wishes would leave him permanently unhappy.