Mr. Rochester feels like he has been dealt an unfair hand in life because he was duped into a marriage with a lunatic. Back then, divorce just wasn't socially or religiously acceptable. He felt trapped and cheated. So, he dealt with his pain by staying away from Thornfield as much as possible. In chapter 14, he rides away to visit neighbors for long periods of time. He knows full well that his wife is locked up on the third floor with a female warden to keep watch. He's so disgusted with the situation that he justifies his deceitfulness to everyone including Jane. However, in Chapter 14 he does graze the surface of his situation by telling Jane, "I. . . was thrust onto a wrong track at the age of one and twenty, and have never recovered the right course since." One could argue that even though he didn't go into specific details with Jane at this time, Jane should have known by his story that he was not a man without troubles in his past and present.