A woman who seeks out family heirlooms from decades past has discovered a dark secret in a bundle of old letters.
Chelsey Brown, 28, from New York City, discovered a scandalous affair between a woman and her fiancé's best friend, in documents from the early 1900s.
Chelsey, who usually reunites old heirlooms with the descendants of those behind them, has taken to Instagram to ask her followers for advice after making the discovery.
She's concerned that, if she returns the letters to the family of the woman who wrote them, she could cause immense heartbreak after the secret is out.
She said: "The letters revealed an affair that happened between a wife and her fiancé’s best friend.
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"This affair happened during their engagement and probably into the early years of their marriage."
Chelsey added she's keeping some details close to her chest so she doesn't reveal the identity of the people involved, but said it was "definitely a love triangle."
She said: "It felt like a heavy weight. It’s hard to explain. This weight is something I carry with any artefact that I handle that reveals sensitive or emotional information about a family."
Chelsey discovered the letters through a vendor in California who she works with regularly to source artefacts.
After posting her dilemma on Instagram, many of her 90,000 followers came to her aid with advice on what she should do.
One person wrote: "Maybe reach out to the family and explain that there could be some sad/unknown information in the letters? So they can decide if they want to read the letters."
Another said: "You were told or read a secret. The universe is trusting you with it. If someone told you a secret about themselves that would hurt others… I doubt you would tell. No good can come of it. Don’t tell."
Someone else said: “I'd be interested to see those of they were my family. I say reach out!”
Another user added: “Leave it alone. It was so long ago that it will only create sadness.”
While Chelsey mulls over the advice she's been given, she's still unsure about whether or not to share the secret with the family.
She said: "I am still deciding what I want to do with these letters, but from everything I know about the family, which I found through myheritage.com, I am leaning towards no.
"I really do think it would cause more harm than good, and my mission with these heirloom returns is to gift families with a piece of their ancestors that won’t cause pain.
"With all of the lovely-dovey heirloom stories and returns I post on social media, I think people don’t realize that most of the work I do is emotionally heavy."
She added: "My mission is to get these items back to the families unless I deem the items not fit to return to the families, for example, love letters that are too graphic or letters that reveal information that would cause more harm than good.
"In the end, it is my decision whether or not an item goes back to a family and I try to use my best judgment. Sometimes, a family secret only lives with me - and I know it's my burden to bear."
Chelsey said she sometimes consults her dad, who is a genealogist, to help her make decisions on certain items.
She said: "I do return many ‘sad’ heirlooms, for example, diaries of sad accounts, death notices, and war documentation, but I return these items knowing it will help families heal, deliver invaluable information for family trees, etc.
"There are just some items that, I believe, were not meant to be found and seen by family, and I just happened to stumble upon them by chance."
Despite the difficulties that come with working with these artefacts, Chelsey loves being able to find out more about the stories.
She said: “I am honoured to be given the title of today's ‘heirloom hunter’ or ‘heirloom detective’ and my mission is to employ others to pick up the same hobby.
“Genealogy and history is fascinating, and it proves that there’s magic behind the lives of average people.”
Do you have a real life story? Email jessica.taylor@reachplc.com
