The Maid's Secret

The narrative returns to Gran’s diary. 

Flora packs some clothes, her diary, and the golden egg and is whisked away to the birth house. She is surprised to find that she would be sharing a room with three other young women, who mock her for being “a princess.” Flora learns that all three are from impoverished backgrounds and dropped out of school to work at a young age. Her bed is worn and uncomfortable, and the room is cold. She is appalled that her mother sent her to such a place.

Gradually, Flora develops a friendship with one of the young women, Amelia. As they cook, clean, and sew to earn money for the home’s proprietress, Mrs. Lynch, Flora shares stories about her life. As her baby grows larger and more active, Flora also develops a bond with the unborn child and is distressed by the visits of well-heeled couples looking to adopt. 

A few months into Flora’s stay, Amelia goes into labor. The doctor is not called until it is too late, and neither Amelia nor her baby survives. They are buried alongside several others in Mrs. Lynch’s field, and Flora resolves to make sure that she and her own baby will not come to such an end.

In the present, Molly calls Brown and tells him that she wants to sell the egg. This time, however, it will be a private event, with no cameras or audience. Stark will arrange security, she tells him, and it will happen in one week. She asks him what his father’s name was, and he says that it was Algernon. His father, he tells her, is deceased, having drowned while yachting in Saint Tropez.

Molly and the others set up surveillance equipment all over the hotel and create a realistic-looking auction set-up. On the day of the pretend auction, John Preston picks Molly and Juan up. He is dressed in his old doorman’s uniform so that he can fill in for Speedy for the day while Speedy monitors the surveillance equipment. 

Molly goes to the tearoom and greets Brown and Beagle. The buyers take their seats and the auction begins. Angela calls in, pretending to be a buyer, and offers the winning bid for the egg. Beagle and Brown congratulate Molly and then head to the greenroom to change clothes before the planned afterparty.

Molly hurries to where the others are gathered, listening to the greenroom conversation between the Bees. Beagle tells Brown that he has something important to tell him, but just then, the sound cuts out. Molly and Angela go to the tearoom so that they can eavesdrop from there on the men’s conversation.

The narrative returns to Gran’s diary. 

One night, Flora hides in the laundry van when it leaves the birth house. When the van stops in town, she slips out and buys a bus ticket to a town near her home. She rehearses what she will say to her parents, but when she gets to the manor, the mother of one of Flora’s former classmates, Mrs. Peterson, answers the door. She explains that the Brauns auctioned the house off, and no one knew where the Grays were now. 

Flora bursts into tears. When Mrs. Peterson tells her that John Preston came by the house recently looking for Flora, Flora tells her not to reveal to John that she is back. Mrs. Peterson offers to let Flora stay in the manor in return for cooking and cleaning. Out of options, Flora agrees.

When Mrs. Peterson learns about the Fabergé egg, she offers to sell it for Flora. Flora agrees, but after the Petersons sell the egg to J. G. Grimthorpe, they only give Flora a few thousand dollars. Flora quits her job with the Petersons and uses the money to move into the apartment where she later raised Molly—the same apartment where Molly now lives with Juan. She takes a job as a maid for a family called the Astors, but she only works for a few weeks before her daughter, whom she names Margaret, is born. For the second time in her life, Flora is deeply in love—this time, with Maggie.

In the present, Molly and Angela huddle by the vacuum outlet in the tearoom, listening through it to Beagle and Brown talking in the greenroom. Angela records on her phone as Brown asks why Beagle would steal the egg. Beagle claims that he did it for Brown and explains that his grandfather, Baron Beagle, told him about Braun stealing the egg from him. 

Brown, who has heard rumors that his father and grandfather were art thieves, is not entirely shocked. Beagle explains that he wanted the truth kept quiet for the sake of their firm’s reputation. When he saw the egg for the first time, he was worried that someone who knew the truth about its provenance would come forward.

Beagle intended to sell the egg on the black market, but then he discovered its bill of sale among his grandfather’s papers. He returned the egg so that Molly could sell it and set a base price for its worth without provenance papers. Now, he believes, they can wait a little and produce the papers, making the egg much more valuable and proving they are its legal owners. Brown is disgusted, saying that Beagle is a thief just like Algernon and Magnus. Stark enters the tearoom and tells Molly and Angela that she is about to arrest Thomas Beagle.

The narrative returns to Gran’s diary. 

Flora returns to work for the Astors, bringing baby Maggie with her each day. When Maggie is five, John Preston unexpectedly appears at Flora’s apartment door. She is crushed to learn that despite her sacrifice, John was able to go to college—instead, he got a job to help support William, who was unable to find work after the Grays fired him. 

John is working as a bellhop at a downtown hotel and married to a woman named Mary when he runs into a former classmate and learned about Flora’s fate. He is touched to learn that Flora named their child after his aunt Margaret, and he offers to help Flora financially, but Flora refuses. John tells her that if she ever needs anything, she should reach out to him. Months later, Mary invites Flora for tea, and she and Flora become fast friends.

When Maggie is a teenager, she starts to get into trouble, and nothing Flora, John, or Mary try seems to help her. Molly’s birth brings joy back into their lives, and Flora is happy to raise her after Maggie decides she cannot. When Molly is old enough to work, John gets her a job at the Regency Grand, and when Flora learns she is dying, John promises that he will always be there for their granddaughter.

In the present, Stark arrests Beagle. Beagle expects Brown to defend him, but Brown is disgusted by Beagle’s actions. He apologizes to Molly, and Molly explains how their families are connected. Brown is ashamed to learn about his family’s past but not surprised. He tells her that Magnus changed the family’s name after being accused of falsifying documents. Molly tells Brown that Flora’s diary contains proof of the Brauns’ theft of the egg from Beagle. She comforts Brown, telling him that their families contain some bad people but that he and she are good people who want to do better. Juan rushes into the room and hugs Molly, relieved that she is out of danger. Brown tells them that, despite his terrible actions, Beagle is likely still the legal owner of the golden egg.

The narrative returns to Gran’s diary. 

John comes to see Flora near the end of her life. They reminisce about their past and about how much they both miss Mary. John takes the claddagh ring from his pocket and proposes to Flora. They exchange impromptu wedding vows. Flora finds that the ring is now too big for her and asks John to keep it until Molly finds someone she wants to marry. She gives John the diary as well, explaining that it is her life story and that he should wait and give it to Molly when she is ready to read it. 

Flora closes with some advice for Molly: She says that the moral of her story is that “Love cannot be stolen […] People like us, who do know [love], who see it and feel it and cherish it, possess a treasure that can never be taken away” (108). She tells Molly that she will always love her and dies knowing that she has Molly’s love to take with her “as comfort into the night” (108).

The day of Molly and Juan’s wedding arrives. Molly waits on the terrace of the Regency Grand, watching her guests from behind a screen. Even though the upheaval in her life has died down, she and Juan are being forced out of their apartment by their landlord’s plan to convert the building. They plan to move in with John a week after their wedding, and he has made it clear they are welcome for as long as they want to stay. She sees the effects of others’ generosity all around her: Her wedding dress was made by her friends, much of the food has been provided by Juan’s staff, and Mr. Snow has donated the use of the venue.

Baxley Brown called Molly a few weeks previously to tell her how sorry Beagle is about his actions. He has pleaded guilty to the theft and the threats against Molly, and he has signed over ownership of the golden egg to Brown as an apology. Brown sold the egg to a museum, and Molly was glad to learn that it will be on display. She invited Brown to the wedding, and now, Molly sees Brown mingling with the other guests.

She also sees Angela talking to Stark. Angela has recently resigned from the Regency Grand and is finally entering the police academy. John and his daughter Charlotte enter with Juan, and Molly’s breath is taken away by how handsome Juan looks. Mr. Snow gets everyone’s attention and Molly descends the stairs. Charlotte, who is a judge, performs the ceremony. Molly is the happiest she has ever been in her life.

The guests stay for dinner and dancing, and everyone has a wonderful time. Brown approaches Molly with an envelope, saying that it is a wedding gift. When Molly opens it later, she finds that it contains a check for $500,000. Brown’s note explains that it is his way of making up for the way his family treated Flora’s family. Molly delightedly tells Juan that now they can buy their apartment and not have to move. Juan goes to make sure the check gets into the hotel safe. Molly, temporarily alone at the head table, feels her gran’s spirit join her, telling her that life is like a fairy tale and is full of wonders.