The Forgotten Garden

At Cliff Cottage in 1975, Nell is inspecting the property that she’s just bought. She’ll be leaving for Australia in four days but plans to return to supervise the renovation. She walks around the back of the house, intrigued by the wall and what might be behind it when she catches a glimpse of someone’s feet protruding under the wall. She drags out a boy who says his name is Christian. He tells her there’s a garden on the other side of the wall that he likes to visit. His mother has recently died, but he feels her presence inside the garden and talks to her there.

Nell thinks, “Life could be so bloody cruel. Why should this boy grow up motherless? Why should some poor woman go to an early grave, leaving her lad to make his way in the world without her?” (433). Nell takes pity on Christian and says he should keep an eye on the garden for her while she’s gone. When she returns, he can help her fix it up: “I don’t accept help from just anyone, but I have a feeling that in this case you’re the right man for the job” (434). 

At Blackhurst Manor in 1913, Rose is sitting in one of the manor’s gardens watching Ivory play. Eliza emerges from the maze and hands Rose a parcel before returning to her cottage. Rose is distraught and tells her mother. Four years earlier, Adeline had forced an agreement that Eliza and Mary were never to see anyone at the manor again after the baby was born. Nathaniel learns about Eliza’s visit and goes to speak to her. As he enters the maze to her cottage, Ivory follows him. To distract the child, he lets her play in the walled garden while he speaks to Eliza. The Authoress protests that she only wanted to give Rose a copy of her fairy tale book now that it’s been published. Nathaniel insists that she is never to contact the family again. Before he leaves, he allows Eliza to see Ivory one last time.

On the same afternoon, Linus is wandering the grounds, hoping for a glimpse of Eliza. It’s been four years since he’s seen her emerge from the maze. Now, he takes pictures of Ivory instead. Linus thinks back to Georgiana’s flight. He hired a man named Mansell to find Georgiana and her new husband. Mansell arranged an accident for the husband, but it took him years to catch up with Georgiana and her daughter. Linus gazes at his last photograph of his sister, but the wind catches it and carries it away: “Landing finally on the water and being carried out to sea. Away from Linus, slipping through his fingers once more” (449). Back at the manor, Nathaniel tells Rose that he’s warned Eliza away, but Rose isn’t placated. Still fearful of losing her family, Rose has arranged for the three of them to travel to New York for an extended stay. Nathaniel protests that he has a commission to finish in Carlisle. Rose agrees he must complete the painting but is adamant that they leave the country immediately afterward.  

At Cliff Cottage in 2005, Ruby, Cassandra, and Christian are enjoying dinner together. Christian explains how an hour of exposure to radiation would have destroyed Rose’s chances of conceiving a baby and would also have resulted in the burn scars on her abdomen. Cassandra tells them her theory that Mary is Ivory’s real mother. She may have resisted giving up her baby but was coerced into doing so by Adeline. The whole arrangement made Eliza feel guilty enough to eventually take the baby away. Christian recalls one of Eliza’s darker fairy tales called “The Golden Egg” that reflects the Authoress’ conflict over enabling Mary to give up her child. Cassandra says the story isn’t in her copy of the book. They speculate that they might each have a different edition of the work.

None of the three can figure out why Eliza sent Ivory to Australia instead of to her relatives in Tregenna. Cassandra says she’ll be meeting with Mary’s daughter, Clara, on the following day and may find out the answer to that question. Christian volunteers to drive her there. After he departs for the night, Ruby teases Cassandra about Christian’s crush. Cassandra is secretly pleased but won’t admit it to Ruby. Cassandra has one final flash of insight that evening before falling asleep. She tells Ruby that the wall was built around the entire cottage to hide Mary during her pregnancy—that’s why none of her relatives in Tregenna knew about the baby.

In 1975, shortly before she returns to Australia, Nell sits inside Cliff Cottage. She opens the little white suitcase to go over the research papers she’s accumulated. As a few pages flutter to the floor, she bends to retrieve them and finds a photograph stuck behind the baseboard of the Authoress. Even though Nell doesn’t realize it, this is one of the many snapshots taken by Linus. At that moment, Nell has a flashback of the day when Eliza emerged from the maze and gave a copy of her book to Rose. Eliza says that the book is meant for Ivory. Later, Rose orders Nathaniel to destroy it, but he keeps the copy in his studio and reads to Ivory from it.

Emerging from the memory, Nell opens the book on her lap. For the first time, she realizes that a group of pages have been cut out. The novel then switches to a tale called “The Golden Egg,” which Christian mentioned earlier to Ruby and Cassandra. The fairy tale tells of a girl who lives alone in the woods. It is her birthright to guard a magical golden egg for the good of the kingdom. The queen of the realm is distressed by her daughter’s ill health but learns that the golden egg might cure her. The queen sends a handmaiden to convince the girl to give up the golden egg. Eventually, the handmaiden succeeds by telling the girl that restoring the princess to health is also for the good of the kingdom. The girl relinquishes the egg, and the princess is healed, but the girl and her surroundings dwindle to nothing. The handmaid concludes the story by saying, “The kingdom thrives, but there is no life in the dark woods” (478).

At Cliff Cottage in 1913, Eliza is making plans to leave Blackhurst. She believes that once the family goes to New York, it will be best for her to slip away as well. She encounters William and learns that both Rose and Nathaniel have been killed in a train accident. No one has told her, and she isn’t wanted at the funeral. Three days later, Eliza prepares to leave for good. She plans to visit the Swindell home in London first to retrieve her mother’s brooch because she will need its jewels to pay for her travel expenses. She takes one final walk around her property and notices Ivory asleep in the garden. Eliza makes an immediate decision not to leave the child in the hands of Linus and Adeline: “By some strange process of alchemy, Eliza had known instantly and certainly that the girl could not be left alone at Blackhurst” (486).

Fearing Adeline’s reach, Eliza realizes that she can’t leave the child with Mary in Cornwall—better to send her to Mary’s brother in Maryborough, Australia. Eliza intends to accompany the girl partway and wire ahead to her family to expect her arrival. They board a train bound for London. Because Ivory doesn’t know her parents are dead, Eliza tells the girl she will reunite with her parents on a ship to New York. That afternoon, Adeline conducts a search for Ivory, but the girl is nowhere to be found. After looking everywhere else, Adeline goes to Eliza’s cottage. No one is at home, but Adeline finds a note with the name “Swindells.” She knows exactly the right person to bring Ivory back.