‘And Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said ‘lest you should take your daughters from me by force'.” '
This is the answer to ‘why did you flee secretly?' (verse 27). Jacob had rightly feared that if he left openly it would have been with very little. The daughters were seen as belonging to the tribe and his service for them had clearly not been seen as sufficient to recompense the tribe for their loss. Nor was their protection sufficiently catered for outside the tribe.