SPOILERS!!!
Connor and Ann get closer, but Ann is unsure how to deal with her feelings, and Connor is respectful.
Once again they try to work on the mystery of Hester and Ivy. Connor tells them that Violet and Hester's mother died during the Spanish flu pandemic, and William died of TB in a sanatorium that Hester paid for. He also says that he recovered his memory after reading a letter from Ivy, and the only letter they have is one that Ivy described her life in the horticultural school.
From the parts from William's perspective we disccover that he recovers the memory when a seed packet is stuck to the letter, and he remembers the notes that he wrote to Hester and what happened between them when he was on leave. He confessed to her that he had written her some letters because he feared he would not return. Hester wanted to see the letters, and she became emotional to read his love for her, and she confessed that she also loved him. That is the moment when they gave free rein to their passion.
When Hester visited him, he told her that he remembered everything. That is when Hester told him that Ivy was not his niece, but his daughter. Violet's baby died a few days after she was born, and she and Violet decided that they would tell everybody that Hester's baby was Violet's because her mother was already unbalanced and knowing that would have sent her over the edge. At this time Ivy was seventeen, and Hester told him that she would tell her the truth one day, but not yet. William, who knew he was dying, wanted to write to her. He did write the letter, but we can guess that Hester hid it under the photo of the beech tree.
Phoebe, Conor and Ann discuss what the empty envelope means. Ann says that she thinks that the letter came from William, and when they compare the writing, they realise that it is the same hand. As the letter was addressed to Ivy Hatherwick and not Mordaunt, Ann thinks that this was a confession. And she also imagines that Conor's grandmother found the letter somewhere the day she died, and she thinks that the reason why she was angry is because William must have confessed that he was his father, but Ivy still thought that Violet was her mother. So she thought that she was the product of incest.
Conor is upset to learn the truth and he is confused. That night she stays in the property, and something wakes him up in the middle of the night and she sees Ann outside. She is sleepwalking, and after throwing some clothes he goes after her, and he finds her in the spot where the beech tree was. Ann wakes up and she tells him that she is starting to remember something terrible that happened at the time when her father died.
A few days later Conor comes to Beechgrave to celebrate that the gardening project is done. She has prepared something for Ann, which will be in the garden, and he tells her to stay put. Then Ann can't find her camera in the house, so she goes outside because she thinks she left it there. When she reaches the clearing where the beech tree was, she sees Conor standing on a swing, and she has a revelation and starts screaming. She has realised that she found her father hanging there.
Ann is in shock and Conor takes carries her to the house, and Conor explains what has happened to Phoebe. Then Phoebe explains that Ann found her father hanging from the beech tree when she was five. Phoebe has always blamed herself. The thing is that Sylvester travelled for his wine business, and Phoebe has always been greedy. So she had affairs, which Sylvester never found out. Yet, she fell pregnant and had an abortion because she didn't want more children. That sent Sylvester over the edge, and she told him that the baby wasn't his. That finished their marriage, and Sylvester fell into depression. Phoebe says she should have realised what she intended. Ann found him and was in histerics, so she sent her with her agent for a few days. When she returned, she was calm and didn't talk about what she had seen. One day she asked her when Dad was coming back, and she told Ann that he was away on business, and when she kept asking, she told her that he had left for good. Phoebe had intended to tell her but the time never came.
When Ann wakes up, Phoebe talks to her, and the truth is finally out. Then Ann and Conor talk, and she tells him that she is happy that she knows about her father. And the story ends with Ann and Conor together.
I really loved the book. Much of what Phoebe, Ann and Connor discovered was guessing because there was no evidence that what they thought was true. Yet, we as readers know that they discovered the truth. A really lovely read.
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