There's a comment, somewhere- maybe in the relevant Persuasions that Crosby, who after all was one of the biggest publishers at the time, was famous for producing gothics. He therefore would be a legitimate "target" for any aspiring writer, and this also may bethe reason for holding onto the book and NOT publishing...he didn't want to jeopardize his own market. Rather like Miramax buying up a certain film script so that their competitors couldn't make a movie of it, and then quietly burying it....