Rose arrives in Edinburgh on July 28, 1945, having transcribed Muriel’s message from cigarette-paper scraps onto fine stationery and burned the evidence.

Muriel’s parents, Glenna and Fergus, welcome Rose warmly. Bound to secrecy, she shares what she can: Muriel saved her life by smuggling food and died from typhus, sparing them the brutal details of Ravensbrück.

Glenna and Fergus then invite Rose to meet five-year-old Mabel in the garden. While helping Mabel catch butterflies, Rose answers questions about Muriel, describing her as brave, kind, and loving. She then reads Muriel’s farewell letter, in which Muriel explains that she joined the war effort so children like Mabel could grow up free from dictators, expresses gratitude for motherhood, and urges Mabel to know she was deeply loved. Overcome with grief, Mabel whispers that she loves her mother too, leans against Rose, and the two cry together.

On August 14, 1945, Lazare works at his father’s desk at La Chronique newspaper in Paris, writing an article about the Vél’ d’Hiv roundup and French police complicity. He uses a prosthetic for his missing fingers.

He survived the Amiens Prison bombing when two prisoners he’d freed pulled him from the debris. He awoke in a farmer’s cellar with a shattered hip and legs. Claudius arranged secret surgery, and after months of recovery and therapy, Lazare now walks only with metal leg braces and crutches. Learning that Rose was the catalyst for the prison raid, he has desperately searched for her using his journalistic resources.

Claudius enters and announces Rose is alive in London, providing her address through Red Cross contacts. Lazare’s joy fades. He tells Claudius he won’t see her, as his doctor predicts he will eventually need a wheelchair and he doesn’t want her to feel responsible for his condition. After Claudius leaves, Lazare sits torn between love and fear of being a burden, then finally begins writing a letter.

On August 16, 1945, Rose is driven to Chartwell in Kent, where Winston Churchill—no longer prime minister—greets her in the garden. He personally thanks her for her service and expresses condolences for Felix and Muriel, confirming that her codename Dragonfly, the Conjurer network, and the true purpose of Operation Jericho will remain classified for at least 100 years.

When Rose asks why he chose to meet her personally, Churchill reveals he was responsible for her SOE recruitment. Rose replies that joining was her choice. He invites her to feed his Golden Orfe goldfish, and they spend an hour at the pond speaking no more of war. As Rose drives away, she feels gratitude and melancholy, knowing they will never meet again.

On August 21, 1945, Rose is packing to visit Felix’s wife in France when Lucy enters with a letter in Lazare’s handwriting. Rose learns he is alive and that Claudius survived too. Lazare’s letter expresses deep gratitude and affection but claims he believes they are not right for each other. He explains that he and Claudius continued Resistance work until Paris was liberated and that he has since become a journalist.

Despite her devastation, Rose tells Lucy the important thing is that he’s alive. Tired of secrets, she shares the letter and confides about her relationship with Lazare, admitting she loved him. She decides not to write back. When Lucy offers to postpone her trip, Rose declines, and she leaves for France, dreading the train stop in Paris and hoping she won’t disembark.

On the train to Saintes, Rose rereads Lazare’s letter, her joy turning to heartache. The Paris stop is difficult as she fights memories and the urge to see him.

In Saintes, Harriet greets Rose warmly and shares stories about her life with Felix. Rose relays Felix’s final message of love and pride in their son, Mathieu—only for Harriet to reveal that Mathieu was also killed after being captured by the Germans. Harriet explains that occupying forces ravaged the vineyard before fleeing, but she declares her intention to rebuild alone. Though Harriet clearly suspects Felix worked as a British spy, she avoids pressing Rose for details. She invites Rose to stay several days and work in exchange for room and board. Rose accepts, hoping the extra time will allow her to plan a route home that avoids Paris.

Rose’s train arrives in Paris on September 2, 1945. Her time in Saintes was restorative, but she decides she needs to see Lazare for closure. She locates La Chronique and finds him in the busy office, on the phone discussing Japan’s official surrender.

Their reunion is emotional but painfully awkward. Rose tells him Muriel and Felix were killed. As Lazare fields constant phone calls and deadline pressures surrounding Japan’s surrender, the two struggle to speak honestly about their emotions. Feeling like an intruder, Rose says she must catch her train. Lazare answers another call and bids her a brief farewell. Rose whispers goodbye and leaves, devastated.

A few streets away, she sits on a curb and weeps.

Lazare hobbles to the window and catches a last glimpse of Rose before she vanishes. Regret overwhelms him, but he tells himself pushing her away is best—he is broken and would only burden her. He reflects on Rose’s bravery and compassion during the Resistance, realizing that memories of her and the hope of seeing her again had kept him alive during captivity. Now, he is elated she survived but grief-stricken that his dream of a future with her is gone.

When a colleague invites him to celebrate the war’s end, Lazare declines and asks him to pass his unfinished article to another journalist. As celebration erupts in the hallway, Lazare feels he has lost the love of his life and leaves the office alone.

At Gare du Nord, Rose decides she cannot leave without understanding what happened. She returns to La Chronique after hours and obtains Lazare’s home address. At his apartment, she confronts him about his letter and his coldness, then notices his crutches. As he stands, his leg braces clink, and she realizes the extent of his injuries. He explains the bombing shattered his hip and legs, that prisoners he’d freed pulled him from the debris, and that Claudius arranged secret surgery. He hid his condition because he didn’t want her to feel responsible, and his doctor predicts he may yet need a wheelchair. He didn’t want her to feel tied to a life burdened by his injuries.

An elderly neighbor, Paulette, arrives with groceries, dispelling Rose’s fear that she was his wife or partner when she heard him say her name earlier. Rose insists Lazare’s disability doesn’t matter. Memories of him sustained her through Ravensbrück, and he is the one she wants to be with. Lazare drops his crutches and they embrace, weeping. Rose asks if he believes in fate.

On May 8, 1969, Rose finishes her manuscript documenting Conjurer, Ravensbrück, and her SOE service. She began writing four years earlier, after attending Churchill’s state funeral in January 1965; watching his procession, she recalled his words about Conjurer’s permanent classification and resolved to document the story.

Lazare congratulates her. Over 24 years together, he became a prominent journalist campaigning for French accountability for the Vél’ d’Hiv roundup and, defying his doctor’s predictions, never needed a wheelchair after multiple surgeries. They married shortly after reuniting and had two children: Charlie, studying journalism, and Magda, studying art. Claudius, now a café owner, has been a beloved surrogate grandfather.

Lazare gives Rose a gold dragonfly brooch. Charlie, Magda, and Claudius arrive with a memorial wreath; Magda asks to read the manuscript, and Rose promises someday they will. The family attends the V-E Day ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, where Rose places the wreath and prays silently that the sacrifices made for freedom and the horrors of war will never be forgotten.