underplot

[ uhn-der-plot ]

/ ˈʌn dərˌplɒt /

a plot subordinate to another plot, as in a novel.

Origin of underplot

First recorded in 1660–70; under- + plot

But the signs and footprints of their underplot are evident.

Abraham Lincoln, A History, Volume 2 |John George Nicolay and John Hay
But however that may be, Endymion certainly had a peculiar fascination for him; we may even detect borrowings from the underplot.

John Lyly |John Dover Wilson
I fly, madam; but how will you disengage yourself from the affair with Underplot?

Three Hours after Marriage |John Gay
There is an underplot, far from moral in its character, which ends in the marriage of Belfond junior.

A History of Caricature and Grotesque |Thomas Wright

Underplot, un′dėr-plot, n. a plot under or subordinate to the main plot in a play or tale: a secret scheme, a trick.

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) |Various

underplot

/ (ˈʌndəˌplɒt) /

a subsidiary plot in a literary or dramatic work

an undercover plot