60 pages • 2 hours read
The Maid's Secret
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Chapters 20-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual violence, child abuse, pregnancy termination, and death.
Chapter 20 Summary
The narrative returns to Gran’s diary.
Flora blames herself for Algernon’s actions at the drive-in, and Mrs. Mead is appalled when Flora continues to date him. Flora contents herself with being explicit about her boundaries, willingly dealing with Algernon’s sour reaction as long as he does not push past them. The Brauns and the Grays socialize frequently. Reginald makes Flora drop out of her classes, and she does not take the university entrance exam. John passes his exam at the top of his class.
Two months after Flora’s first date with Algernon, Priscilla shows her and her parents their recently acquired Fabergé egg, saying that they would never know the trouble her family had acquiring it. She tells her son, “[I]t’s time” (193), and Algernon gets down on one knee and proposes to Flora. He tells her that their parents already agreed to the marriage and want it to take place in a year when she turns 18.
Flora is confused that he does not have a ring, but Priscilla explains that the bejeweled egg is to be the first part of her trousseau, a gift from the Brauns to signify how much they value Flora.
