The sad story of Adele, “the miserable.”

The sad story of Adele, “the miserable.”

One rainy day in 1850, the New York police found a young woman who looked lost and messy. She spoke a language they didn’t understand. She was taken to a hospital, where doctors said she had lost her memory. Later, they found out who she was—Adele Hugo, the daughter of the famous writer Victor Hugo.

Adele’s story touched many hearts. She had fallen in love with an English soldier named Albert Pinson. But he didn’t love her back. Still, she followed him all the way to Nova Scotia. There, he used her and left her with nothing. She ended up alone and with no help in New York.

When she was sent back to France, Adele was heartbroken and full of shame. She made a promise to herself that she would never speak again. Her father, Victor Hugo, spent 35 years trying to get her to talk, but she never did.

For 65 years, from 1850 until she died in 1915, Adele stayed silent—as a way to remind herself never to fall in love again.