The Moonstone: The Loss of the Diamond: 19 Summary & Analysis

Betteredge recounts Cuff setting off for the Shivering Sand with Duffy, a local boy who works at the Verinder family estate and has just seen Rosanna rushing in that direction. Betteredge occupies himself with some “needless” house work until Duffy returns with a note from Cuff asking Betteredge to send a boot of Rosanna’s with Duffy. Betteredge does, but he decides to follow Duffy as well.

A storm brews as Betteredge arrives on the beach and encounters a horrified Cuff, who matches Rosanna’s boot to a series of marks that all point at a spit of rocks. At once, Betteredge realizes what Cuff is thinking, and the detective exclaims that “some fatal accident has happened to” Rosanna on the rocks. Betteredge recalls Rosanna’s solemn manner that morning but cannot bring himself to tell Cuff that he thinks she committed suicide—he then thinks back to the first time he met her on the Shivering Sand, when she declared that she thought she might die there. Mortified, Betteredge imagines losing Penelope, who is the same age as Rosanna.

The Yollands and the outdoor servants all congregate on the beach, where Cuff reveals what he has discovered about Rosanna’s fate. The fishermen explain that no boat could have picked her up, but that the other side of the rocks would have been empty of water an hour before. Betteredge blurts out his suspicion that Rosanna might have committed suicide, but Cuff asks everyone to ignore him. A fisherman explains that, given the topography of the area, she must have waded out into deeper water—and deeper quicksand—after falling off the rocks.

A servant comes to the Shivering Sand with a suicide note from Rosanna thanking Betteredge for his kindness and asking his forgiveness. Betteredge “burst[s] out crying” and blames Cuff. Together, they set out for the house.