บท 199: DEVASTATION (1)

As the night progressed into morning, Rochester grew increasingly agitated. Many things were not adding up. Firstly, it seemed that no one on the estate had noticed Louisa leaving the house. Rochester wondered how this was even possible. Even after threatening to have them locked up and tortured, Scott and Barkley, the gatekeepers, swore they did not see her leave. So, what was he missing?

Throughout the night, no one in the house was able to sleep, including Rochester's mother, Roxanne, and especially Haswell, whom he had an inexplicable dislike for. Adelaide was unaware of what was happening, but Rochester knew how intelligent she was and realized it would be hard to keep Louisa's departure a secret from her.