All of us have aspects of our characters we dislike and tend to keep suppressed. So how do your fictional characters do this and what are they trying to cover up? Do they succeed or is there one special person in their life who can see right through it?
The Fairy Queen has a public face and a side to herself she only ever shows to those closest to her (Eileen, L’Evallier mainly as she knows she can trust these two and she was surprised to find this was still the case after Eileen’s defection. Despite Eileen leaving, the fairy godmother has never betrayed or threatened her regal cousin).
Roherum has a public face, the avuncular jolly journalist though in fairness he doesn’t need to act much here. So how does a character’s secret background get found out (if it does), what are the consequences of this being exposed? Who is the whistleblower and what are they hoping to gain?