Who is Bertie?

Bertie is Rufel's husband and the master of Sutton's Glen. As a young man Bertie is seemingly ambitious and industrious. After he and Rufel are married, he invests himself in the farm, though his knowledge of crops and the land proves faulty. Rufel later discovers through Nathan that Bertie has always been a gambler, and squandered the estates funds. He disappears not long after Rufel has their second child and never returns.