Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness — it has no taste.

The friendship between writer Charlotte Brontë and publisher W.S. Williams began with false pretenses and a rejection letter. During their early correspondence, Brontë posed as a man named Currer Bell. Six publishing houses, including Williams' firm, Smith, Elder & Co., declined to print Bell's first novel, “The Professor.” However, Brontë reflected that Williams gave her much-needed “encouragement to persevere as an author,” and in October 1847, the firm published her pseudonymous masterpiece “Jane Eyre.” Several months later, Brontë revealed her true identity to Williams. Instead of being scandalized, he invited her to meet his wife and children, and began sending her books. Brontë received one of these packages in March 1850, when she was living alone with her father after having lost her mother and three siblings. While acknowledging the gift, she included this quote in her reply to Williams, reflecting that joy is always more palpable when loved ones can join in it.