Flora's Disappearance and the Confrontation by the Lake

Flora's disappearance and the confrontation by the lake mark a decisive break between the governess and the child she has tried to protect. After finding Flora absent and tracing her to the water, the governess announces that Miss Jessel is present; Flora denies seeing anyone and asks to be taken away from her. Mrs. Grose cannot see the apparition either, and leaves with Flora, while the governess is left with her claim unconfirmed by her companion and her relationship with the child broken.

Causes and Search

After an early meal, Miles offers to play for the governess in the schoolroom. His music holds her attention, and she realizes that she has lost track of Flora. When she asks Miles where his sister is, he says he does not know, then laughs and sings. The governess searches her room and others before seeking Mrs. Grose, who had assumed the governess was looking after both children. Their guarded inquiries fail to locate Flora, and their alarm grows as they recognize that the girl is not simply elsewhere in the house.

The governess decides Flora has gone out, despite Mrs. Grose's objection that the child has no hat. She insists Flora is with Miss Jessel and that the two must be found. When Mrs. Grose asks where Miles is, the governess replies that he is with Peter Quint in the schoolroom. This division of the children intensifies the governess's sense that both are in the company of the figures she believes haunt them, although the scene does not independently establish what either child has encountered.

The Route to the Lake

The governess directs Mrs. Grose toward the lake, half a mile from the house. Her suspicion rests on Flora's known inclination toward that part of the grounds and on the place where the governess and Flora had previously seen Miss Jessel. Mrs. Grose resists the inference at first, but follows. The choice of destination reflects the governess's certainty about Flora's whereabouts and about the significance of the earlier lakeside encounter.

At the water, the women see no sign of Flora on either bank. The lake is long and narrow, with a copse reaching down to much of the opposite shore. The governess interprets the empty mooring as evidence that Flora has taken the boat across and hidden it. Mrs. Grose questions the conclusion, but the governess persists; they follow the overgrown path around the lake and find the boat tied to a fence stake on the far side, its short, thick oars drawn up. The boat's concealment confirms the girl's crossing and gives the search a concrete trail to follow.

Passing through a gate, the women find Flora standing on the grass beyond the copse. She smiles and stoops to pick up a spray of withered fern, while the governess concludes that she has just emerged from the trees. Flora does not approach them. Mrs. Grose embraces her, and the child's expression becomes serious as she looks past Mrs. Grose toward the governess. No explanation passes between the two; the governess understands the silence as a sign that Flora's concealment and the pretext of an ordinary outing can no longer be sustained.

The Apparition and the Dispute

The governess asks Flora where Miss Jessel is. The name, which had not been spoken between them, provokes a sharp reaction from the child and a distressed cry from Mrs. Grose. The governess then sees Miss Jessel standing on the opposite bank, in the place where she had appeared before. She takes the apparition as proof that she is neither cruel nor mad, and believes it is present especially for Flora. Her relief at what she regards as confirmation quickly gives way to alarm at the child's response.

Mrs. Grose blinks toward the place the governess indicates, but cannot see anyone. She explicitly denies the presence of Miss Jessel and tells Flora that the dead woman is buried and that nobody is there. The governess, meanwhile, continues to insist that the figure is visible and tries to direct Mrs. Grose's attention toward it. The same moment therefore produces opposing accounts: the governess experiences a vivid apparition, while her companion sees nothing and Flora refuses to acknowledge it.

Flora looks at the governess with an expression the narrator describes as grave and accusatory, without turning toward the apparition. The governess interprets this refusal as evidence that Flora sees Miss Jessel but is deliberately withholding an admission. Mrs. Grose instead regards the governess's insistence as a dreadful mistake. Their disagreement does not resolve whether the apparition is objectively present; it exposes how completely the governess's confidence depends on an interpretation that neither Flora nor Mrs. Grose confirms.

Separation and Aftermath

Flora says she sees nobody, has never seen anyone, and thinks the governess is cruel. She then clings to Mrs. Grose and asks to be taken away. The governess hears the rejection as the consequence of her intervention, and speaks of having lost Flora. Although she continues to interpret the scene through Miss Jessel's influence, the child's words directly alter the relationship between them: Flora no longer accepts the governess's care, and the governess recognizes that their previous closeness has collapsed.

The governess orders Mrs. Grose to go. Mrs. Grose takes Flora away, evidently convinced that something terrible has happened even though she remains unable to see what the governess sees. Left alone, the governess has no memory of what first follows; when she comes to herself, the day is nearly over. She returns to the house and finds that the boat has disappeared from the place where it was tied, another indication of Flora's resourcefulness and control of her departure.

That night Flora stays with Mrs. Grose, and the governess does not see either of them on her return. She finds Flora's belongings removed from her room, a practical sign that the separation is not momentary. The governess sees much of Miles that evening, but makes no inquiry about him. The confrontation thus ends not with agreement about the apparition but with Flora's removal, the loss of the governess's relationship with her, and the household's division around incompatible accounts of what occurred.