half-secret

Everyone he knew carried with them the aura of another life which was half-secret and half-open, to be known about but not mentioned.

The Master Colm Tóibín 2004

A kind of half-secret organization existed among them, and new members passed through a ceremony called 'initiation,' which was not confined to the lower classes, from which most of them were recruited.

The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day Alexander F. Chamberlain

The sweet savor of those frequent gifts, sweeter for their half-secret, half-forbidden conferring, will never disappear out of my memory.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 108, October, 1866 Various

He felt in the depths of his heart, that the demoralizing influences consequent upon those half-secret, half-audacious speculations had led him to the brink -- nay, had actually plunged him into a great crime.

The Old Homestead Ann S. Stephens

I was bold, -- I was heated, too, with this half-secret life of my heart, this warm blood that went leaping so riotously through my veins, and yet so silently, -- I took my dagger from my belt and severed the curl.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 67, May, 1863 Various

The two were right impatient to get married, but it was necessary to do that quietly, for the family below hated nothing more than fuss and noise; so, in a sort of a half-secret fashion, they were wedded.

Welsh Folk-Lore a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales Elias Owen

The sense of talk, buzzing, jarring, half-secret, the endless mining and political wrangling, vibrated in the air like discordant machinery.

Women in Love 1907

Intendant's chair a dozen or more men, who were sitting near together in noisy yet half-secret conference, rose to their feet, each with a mask in his hand, and started towards the door.

The Seats of the Mighty, Volume 3 Gilbert Parker 1897

Intendant's chair a dozen or more men, who were sitting near together in noisy yet half-secret conference, rose to their feet, each with a mask in his hand, and started towards the door.

The Seats of the Mighty, Complete Gilbert Parker 1897

Intendant's chair a dozen or more men, who were sitting near together in noisy yet half-secret conference, rose to their feet, each with a mask in his hand, and started towards the door.

The Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Gilbert Parker Gilbert Parker 1897