The Lake House

The bonfire burns in the middle of the lake. Constance never liked the superstitious celebration of Midsummer’s Eve or the warding off of spirits. Tonight she plans to make peace with the past and start anew. She is going to talk to Daffyd Llewellyn, whom she has hated ever since her baby died shortly after birth (the umbilical cord was wrapped too tightly around the baby’s neck). She also never liked how friendly he was with Eleanor, whereas she and Eleanor were more like strangers than mother and daughter.

She catches sight of Daffyd and invites him over to talk and share a glass of champagne. She intends to be polite and congratulate him on his recent achievements and the upcoming honor of meeting the queen. She beckons him over.

Daffyd is nervous and takes a large swallow of the champagne. Constance is surprised at how quickly he drinks the champagne and eyes him oddly. All the while he is talking to Constance, Daffyd has in mind that he is supposed to meet Alice and keep her occupied while Eleanor puts her plan into action. He doesn’t like the plan and wishes Eleanor would reconsider, but he was never able to provide a viable alternative to letting Ben take Theo away to place him with his good, longtime friends.

The night with Constance still haunts him. He never again practiced medicine after that night.

Constance speaks to Daffyd about the past and about letting things go. She congratulates him and tells him about the time she nearly met the queen. Sadly, however, she was ill and unable to attend. She proposes a toast. Daffyd is overwhelmed by all that is happening, with Eleanor’s plan, with keeping Alice busy, and now with Constance wanting to bury the past. He stumbles. He feels dizzy. Constance asks if he is okay. She steadies him. Daffyd spots the boathouse and feels an overwhelming need to be alone. He moves in that direction. He sits down at the base of a tree, takes one of his heartburn tablets, and passes out with a vision of Henri, his old friend (Constance’s deceased husband), motioning to him to follow.

Alice looks down at her watch and nearly runs right into her grandmother. Alice says she needs some water. She has just returned from the boathouse, where she offered herself to Ben only to discover that he does not reciprocate her feelings. She feels stupid, naive, and childish. She is mad at everyone, especially Daffyd, who wants to meet with her when all she wants to do is go off and be alone. Reluctantly, she waits for him, but when he doesn’t show, she storms off into the woods, vowing that she doesn’t need anyone. She focuses on herself and her raison d’être: “She was Alice Edevane, and she was a storyteller” (453).

Eleanor and Ben have planned to meet in the woods. From there, they use the secret tunnel to make their way to Theo’s room. It isn’t easy. Ben is having second thoughts, but Eleanor steels herself for what she knows she must do. In the nursery, Nanny Bruen is fast asleep thanks to an extra amount of whiskey. Theo cuddles with Eleanor when she picks him up and holds him. Eleanor is beside herself knowing she is losing him as well as Ben. She hands Theo to Ben. Theo recognizes Ben and doesn’t cry out at all.

Ben and Theo follow the tunnel to the woods alone, “and Theo was content. He knew Ben’s voice the way he knew his family, in that special way, knowledge that was as old as the world itself” (459).

Peter isn’t sure what he and Alice are doing in the woods outside Loeanneth after dark, but he doesn’t ask any questions either. He simply leads the way. Alice informs him that it is a private affair but she needs his help. Alice tells Peter where to dig and that he should find a box; it isn’t buried too deep. Peter finds the box relatively quickly. Alice says there isn’t any need to open it just yet, so she asks Peter to load it into the car.

Sadie pushes her way through the crowd at the Solstice Festival and soon spots Peter and Alice. Her phone is ringing. It’s the Met. Donald is on the other line. It turns out that Steve, after being brought in for questioning and faced with the new lead, confessed to killing Maggie. Donald apologizes for not believing and listening to Sadie earlier. Steve admits that his new wife couldn’t have children but desperately desired one. He got it into his head to provide one for her by getting rid of Maggie. Sadie wants to know what will happen to Caitlyn. She has Donald promise her that he will do whatever he can to make sure Caitlyn doesn’t wind up in the system and that Nancy is allowed to care for her granddaughter. Donald promises to do what he can. They hang up.

Sadie calls out for Alice. Peter spots her, and they come over to her. Sadie quickly informs Alice of what she now knows about Theo: Ben took Theo. Alice doesn’t believe it. Sadie says they should go somewhere quiet and talk. She thinks of Bertie’s place.

Bertie is still down at the festival. Alice wants something strong to drink. Sadie finds them a bottle of sherry. Sadie tells Peter and Alice everything she discovered about Eleanor’s plan. After she is done explaining, Alice agrees that it does make sense after all, and that it explains a lot of what happened afterward, such as why her parents never offered a reward, why there was never a ransom note, and why Eleanor made a sizable monetary donation to the police after the case went cold. It also explains why Rose was let go shortly before Theo disappeared and why she was given such a grand severance package. Rose needed to be out of the way for Ben to take Theo, but Eleanor liked Rose and didn’t want her to suffer. Eleanor did what she had to in order to make restitution.

Bertie returns and makes supper for them all. Alice asks Sadie if she thinks Eleanor knew where Theo had been taken. Sadie doesn’t think so, but at Alice’s insistence, she says she will keep digging. Bertie asks about the Bailey case and Sadie tells him what happened. He always knew she was right. He asks about her job. She’s not sure what will happen. Even though she was right, going to the press was a serious breach of trust and departmental policy.

Sadie gets up to get the Edevane case file. When she sits down, Alice says that she and Peter were talking, and she thinks she remembers seeing Ben in the woods that night. Sadie wants to know why she never told anyone. Alice says that she wasn’t supposed to have been there; she was supposed to be with Mr. Llewellyn. Neither Alice nor Sadie believes that he killed himself. Peter shares some new information he received from the librarian, Alastair. Peter read an article about Daffyd’s book and how one could understand the book as an allegory for Daffyd’s life. Based on that, Peter surmises that the baby who died and caused Mr. Llewellyn’s breakdown was Constance’s baby. He likens Constance to Miss Havisham from Dickens’s Great Expectations. They all realize that Constance drugged and killed Daffyd with the barbiturates found in his system. They also uncover her motive: She was jealous of his award and honor of meeting the queen, something Constance had always wished for herself, especially after missing an opportunity to do so when she was younger.

The conversation returns to Eleanor. Sadie opens the file and takes out a newspaper article that includes her picture. Bertie recognizes the woman in the photograph, though he never knew her name. He tells them all that she often visited his family’s shop where he worked when he was younger. Peter remarks how big a coincidence that is. Bertie then informs them all about a postcard they used to have from his uncle hanging near the register. It was a picture from Cornwall, of a “small wooden door set into a brick garden wall, covered in ivy and ferns, and she saw it once and told me about the gardens in Cornwall” (478). Bertie says that Eleanor spoke of a wonderful garden with a smuggler’s tunnel and a goldfish pond. He says it sounded like such a magical place, and it’s one of the reasons he moved out to Cornwall. Alice tells him that a man named Ben Munro built the pond. Bertie says that his uncle’s name was Ben and that he died in World War II.

Alice frowns. She asks Bertie where he was born. Sadie tells her that Bertie was adopted. Bertie talks about his mother, Flo, and his Uncle Ben, and doesn’t notice Alice moving to sit next to him. Alice is weak and her voice squeaks. She calls Bertie Theo.

Bertie and Alice talk about Ben. Bertie shares a small box of mementos from his childhood. One of the items is a plush puppy dog with button eyes. One is missing. Sadie recognizes it and pulls out the button she found on the nursery floor. Bertie shares how his mother used to tell him a story about a tiger and a pearl. Bertie has the old tiger-tooth pendant Eleanor used to wear as a little girl. Alice opens her box from the woods and shows everyone her first manuscript, the one she told Ben about all those years ago, titled Bye Baby Bunting.

Eleanor goes to London as soon as she learns about the bombs that fell there. She hadn’t wanted to tell Anthony that she was going to town today, but she was tired of keeping secrets; secrets had nearly destroyed them all. When she told Anthony of the affair, he didn’t react the way she expected him to. He felt relieved that his life wasn’t as perfect as he had thought. He gave her the freedom to go away, but she couldn’t leave him or her daughters.

Eleanor turns down the street and finds the shop. She enters. Ben had told her wonderful things about his friend Flo. It doesn’t seem that anyone is in the shop, however. Eleanor deliberates whether to leave, but she also notices a door that leads to the home. She thinks about opening it, about finding Theo somewhere in the house. Then she notices a little boy behind the counter. She recognizes him instantly. He asks her if she needs anything. She orders two eggs. The two of them talk about books and reading. They talk about the countryside. Theo/Bertie mentions Ben fighting in France. Flo enters and tousles the boy’s hair. The love apparent between Theo and Flo sends a shot of pain through Eleanor’s chest. She staggers. Eleanor leaves but knows she will visit again.

Alice and Deborah meet at the Natural History Museum on the anniversary of Eleanor’s death, as they always do.

Later, all the others meet up with them at the V&A. Even Bertie has driven up from Cornwall. Sadie arrives with Peter. She shows them all her new nameplate: “S. Sparrow, Private Investigator. Please ring doorbell for assistance” (492). Alice likes it. She asks if Charlotte will be joining them as well. Sadie says no, she won’t, because she has too much homework. Bertie recommends they order a bottle of sparkling wine: “Shall we skip tea just this once and have some sparkling wine instead? It seems to me we have an awful lot to celebrate” (492).