Rochester paused as he reached the entrance to the sitting room. He looked at the broken expression on Roxanne's face as she sobbed mercilessly. He had not been moved by her tears when he had stormed out of there to climb up to Adelaide. But now he was, and more importantly, he was beginning to think, for the sake of all concerned, that it might not be such a bad idea to let her stay.
As he moved a foot forward, the thought of Louisa, who he hoped was still somewhere in the house despite his mother's lashing out at her, crossed his mind. He would be lying if he said he was only going along with his mother's deal because of Adelaide's reliance on Louisa. He knew he would be lying if he said that, because if he was really honest with himself, he wanted to keep Louisa in the house for much longer, for his own sake as well as hers. It was a hard decision, but he was willing to gamble that she wasn't beyond redemption. At least he hoped not.
