Chapter 1 of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – discussion (wish some spoilers)

I completed reading Rebecca today.

A friend commented on Chapter 1. She says she doesn't like spoilers, and was annoyed by author spoiling the whole book in the beginning.

My feeling is different. Chapter 1 nourished my curiosity, and the slow moving plot in later chapters even after big plot twists only enhanced my uncertainty about the meaning of Chapter 1. Maybe I misunderstood it, but I was never certain whether the unnamed companion in Chapter 1 was Maxim. Narrator's growing affection for Frank had me on edge whether it was Maxim, Frank, or maybe some other partner acquired at some point. What did narrator mean that they can never go back to Manderley and that Manderley was no more? Was it actually destroyed, or was it a figure of speech? Were they fugitives from law? Or maybe he atoned for the crime, and they escaped social undesirability? Or maybe crazy Mrs Danvers tried to kill them, or the cousin? I kept reading always having the Chapter 1 on my mind, and never sure who was there and why.