It is impossible to know for certain what tone—whether it is shock or relief—that
Mary Shelley intends to be conveyed by this exclamation of Victor's. In both the 1818
and 1831 texts he almost gives himself away, then recovers before his younger brother's
incomprehension and his father's subsequent imperious self-assurance and, rather than
be open with his family members in their crisis, closes off his knowledge and himself
from their confidence.