secret compact

昨日は箱根駅伝を見た後に大学ラグビーの準決勝第一回戦を見、ＴＶは一時休んで、ジョッギングに出かけ、帰ってから再び録画して置いた準決勝の第二回戦を見ました。始めは明治も頑張っているなと思いましたが、途中から早稲田のペースになり早稲田の圧勝でした。ＴＶのスポーツ観戦ではラグビーが一番好きなのでラグビー中継のある日だけは冬も悪くないと思う私です。　夜はテニスの初練習をしたので昨日はスポーツデイになりました。
さて、英語の話題に移ります。"The Story of My Life" でヘレン・ケラーがシェークスピアについて書いている個所からです。
I have since read Shakespeare's plays many times and know parts of them by heart, but I cannot tell which of them I like best. My delight in them is as varied as my moods. The little songs and the sonnets have a meaning for me as fresh and wonderful as the dramas. But, with all my love for Shakespeare, it is often weary work to read all the meanings into his lines which critics and commentators have given them. I used to try to remember their interpretations, but they discouraged and vexed me; so I made a secret compact with myself not to try any more. This compact I have only just broken in my study of Shakespeare under Professor Kittredge. I know there are many things in Shakespeare, and in the world, that I do not understand; and I am glad to see veil after veil lift gradually, revealing new realms of thought and beauty.
この "I made a secret compact" は「密かに誓った」と言う感じですが、私の知っている "compact" は日本語にもなっているコンパクトの意味しか知らないので辞書で確かめます。
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: a formal agreement between two or more people, organizations or countries; They made a compact not to reveal any details.
・Random House Unabridged Dictionary: a formal agreement between two or more parties, states, etc.; contract: the proposed economic compact between Germany and France.
・Macmillan Dictionary: formal an agreement, often one that people make secretly
考えて見ると "pact" に "agreement" の意味がありましたね。