Lost — Hard Times

Bounderby, busy in resumed bachelorhood, renews the bank robbery hunt with extra bustle. Stephen Blackpool still cannot be heard of. Bounderby posts twenty-pound reward placards naming Stephen suspected of complicity; workers gather at dawn, even those who cannot read staring with fearful awe.

Slackbridge denounces the pernicious placard at a union meeting and formally disowns Stephen. Rachael comes to Stone Lodge with Bounderby and Tom to confront Louisa: she confirms Louisa visited Stephen's lodging, offered two pounds, and that Tom was present. Rachael weeps that the honestest lad is named thief in public print.

Rachael says she wrote Stephen to return in two days; Bounderby claims no letter reached the post office. She will not name where he hides so he can clear himself without being dragged back. Sissy offers to visit Rachael for news. Gradgrind asks Louisa if she believes Stephen guilty; she no longer does.

Four days pass; Rachael's letter had gone to a working colony sixty miles away. Messengers return alone. Tom shadows Bounderby, feverish and nail-bitten, wagering Stephen will not appear. Seven days on, Stephen is still lost, and Tom's defiant question echoes back at night: where is the man, and why did he not come back?