Flora describes a visit from John Preston, the Regency Grand doorman whom she loves and calls by his first name, John. They reminisce about their shared past and the people they have lost—Mary, Uncle Willy, Mrs. Mead, Flora’s parents, and their missing daughter, Maggie—and they pray for them.

Flora tells John she believes this will be their last meeting in life. John kneels by her bed and proposes with a Claddagh ring, saying he has always loved her. Flora immediately accepts, and they privately exchange vows, keeping the details secret from Molly.

After the vows, Flora notices the ring is now too large for her. She returns it to John with the request that he keep it for Molly and give it to her if the time is right. John agrees to this promise.

Flora then directs John to her bedside drawer and shows him the locked diary. She explains she has been writing in it for Molly and asks John to take it during his next visit and keep it safe until Molly is ready, assuring him Molly will know how to open it. John replaces the diary in the drawer and lies beside Flora for comfort until she sleeps.

When Flora wakes, John is gone, but she feels a temporary peace where pain once was. She uses that calm to compose her final chapter and letter to Molly.

In closing, Flora reflects on her life as a “fairy tale in reverse,” born wealthy and dying poor, and states the moral she wants to leave Molly: love cannot be stolen by those who do not value it. She promises that love endures beyond death and affirms that her heart remains with Molly, just as Molly’s love comforts her as she faces the end.