Later that evening, Mr. Shelby tells his wife that he has sold Tom and little Harry. Mrs. Shelby is horrified; he has promised Tom his freedom, and she has assured Eliza her child is safe. Shelby admits that Haley held a mortgage on their property and that he was forced to choose between selling those two and selling everything, including all their slaves. Mrs. Shelby says she always knew slavery was evil; now she dreads having to tell Eliza.
But Eliza has overheard. She packs what she can and leaves the house, carrying her child and few possessions. She goes first to warn Tom and Chloe, and Chloe urges her husband to run away, too, but Tom refuses, saying Eliza is right to go but he has no choice except to fulfill his master's bargain. Tom looks at his sleeping children and weeps. Eliza asks them to tell her husband what she has done and that she will try to make it to Canada.
The next morning, Eliza is found missing. Haley arrives and the other slaves lose no time in telling him Eliza and the boy are gone; Haley is persuaded, with some difficulty, that Shelby was not an accomplice in their leaving and that he will assist in a search for them. Shelby delegates two slaves, Sam and Andy, to join Haley in searching. Sam, perceiving that Mrs. Shelby is not eager that they find the fugitives, manages to delay the search.
