The Thirteenth Tale

When Margaret goes home, she asks her father why her mother is the way she is. He explains that she almost died in labor, and when she recovered, Margaret and her twin had already been separated, and Moira had died. Her mother never recovered from the experience. Her mother was also the one who decided that they should not tell Margaret about her twin, as it was such a sad and difficult story. Margaret attends the funerals of Vida, Emmeline, and Adeline and then returns to Angelfield to see Aurelius. She gives him the ashes from the bones found at Angelfield, and then tells him the full story of his birth and abandonment.

They bury Adeline’s ashes at the base of Emmeline’s grave, and Margaret tells Aurelius about his father, Ambrose. Aurelius is upset because he is dead, but then Margaret tells him that Ambrose had married and had another child. Then she gives him a birthday card and tells him that today, January the seventh, is his true birthday. They go to Karen’s house, and Aurelius realizes that Karen is Ambrose’s daughter, and his own sister, and that he has a niece and nephew as well. Margaret leaves them alone together.

Margaret states that she will not publish Vida’s biography, but rather give it to Karen’s children, Tom and Emma. After she leaves Karen and Aurelius, she goes to Angelfield, which has been completely demolished, and opens the envelope that Mr. Lomax gave her after Vida’s death. In it, she finds the thirteenth tale. It is a retelling of Cinderella from a dark, angry perspective, the perspective of Vida’s real mother, a story of rape and abandonment.

Margaret then tells the reader what happened to the rest of the people in the story. Judith and Maurice continue to manage Vida’s estate, which will be turned into a tourist attraction, featuring her magnificent gardens. The genealogist has finally found Hester, who made her way to America after leaving Angelfield. After Dr. Maudsley’s wife died, he joined her in America, and they had four children. Margaret sends Hester’s diary to one of them. Shadow the cat lives at the bookshop now, and Dr. Clifton comes to visit Margaret and her father. He invites Margaret to come visit him for a month, and to bring Shadow.

Margaret’s ghostly twin, Moira, finally comes to visit her, and Margaret understands it as a goodbye.