The Keeper of Stories

Mrs. B has Stan bring brandy for Janice. Janice tells Mrs. B that she never felt guilty for killing Ray or lying to the police, who assumed that Ray fell after tripping on the weights and rope. However, she feels terrible guilt for not helping her mother, who died alone and destitute in a Salvation Army hostel. She wonders what, if anything, Joy remembers and why Joy wrote, “I remember what you did” (67), when Janice last visited Canada. Mrs. B encourages Janice to call her sister that evening. She also gruffly reassures her that nothing could have helped her mother.

That night, Joy calls Janice. Geordie sent opera tickets to Joy while in Canada, so Joy wants to know how Janice knows a famous opera star. The sisters each get a glass of wine to chat—their tradition—and eventually Janice works up the nerve to ask about the note. It turns out that the note had nothing to do with Ray, but when Janice begins to mention how Ray died, Joy shocks her by saying that she knew everything and never doubted that Janice made the right choice: “He was going to kill us, Hope” (229). Joy is thrilled that Janice left Mike and wants her to visit soon.

Tiberius accosts Janice as she cleans his house, demanding to know about the half-drunk bottle of brandy he confiscated from Mrs. B’s house. Janice says that she knows nothing about it; Tiberius grabs her arm as she tries to pass by. Janice glares at him, and he lets go. She tells him in a low, steely voice to never touch her again. Decius growls at Tiberius. Tiberius fires Janice, telling her that she must finish by the end of the week. Janice walks out with Decius on the lead and heads to Adam’s house. She is only sorry that she won’t see Decius anymore; she loves him deeply, and now Adam will miss out on seeing him too.

After Janice tells Euan and Fiona what happened, Fiona brightly offers Adam a new dog “like Decius.” Adam becomes infuriated: “What, and you think one day you could get me a new dad too? Just buy me a new one. New dad, new fucking dog. […] What is wrong with you people?” (234). Adam runs off, taking Decius with him. Fiona is too upset to think clearly; Euan takes charge, deciding where he and Janice will search and what Fiona will prepare in case they have to call the police later.

Searching turns up nothing; Euan calls the police. At 11 o’clock that evening, Tiberius brings Adam home. Adam read Decius’s ID tag and took him to Tiberius’s house. Tiberius is angry that his pedigreed dog was missing for hours. Janice tells him that she understands that she is no longer employed but asks if Adam can take over as Decius’s walker. Tiberius calls Janice a “simpleton” for even suggesting this. Janice, fed up with Tiberius’s demeanor, tells him off, calling him a “pompous arse” and a “common thief.” She stalks away.

The late hour prompts Janice and Euan to stay at Fiona’s in separate rooms. In the morning, Janice lies in bed thinking that she owes herself more credit as a cleaner and a friend. She sees now that she is a good mother too. However, she cannot see a future with Euan or a way to forgive herself regarding her mother.

Euan’s mother died by suicide, so he empathizes with Adam and tries talking with him privately. Adam looks less “pinched” after they talk. Later, when Euan reveals to Janice that he is still working to move past his mother’s death, Janice thinks that their combined stories are too much to cope with, and she breaks off their relationship. She walks without purpose for a long time until Stan calls her phone. Running to Mrs. B’s, she sees an ambulance outside.

Janice attends Carrie-Louise’s funeral service; the elderly woman passed away from a stroke. Mrs. B is there; she has a black eye and a broken arm from falling down the spiral stairs. She has accepted that she must move. She will move into an apartment at an assisted-living facility that has room for books and a river view. Tiberius returned her special wine after she agreed to the move. Mrs. B wants Janice to continue cleaning for her and visiting for gin. Janice agrees. Mrs. B comments on Janice’s unhappy look; Janice does not offer details. Mrs. B tells her that she is not an Amelia or a Becky Sharp—though she wishes that Janice would demand more personal happiness the way Becky did.

Janice arrives at Mrs. B’s new apartment and is suspicious upon finding her in a very pleasant mood. Janice sees Euan’s cycling helmet and demands to know what Mrs. B has done. Mrs. B says that Euan is good for Janice and admits that she told him Janice’s story. Janice is livid and mortified, but Mrs. B says that she deserves to have her story told precisely because she doesn’t see it as her story but her sister’s—and because Janice is punishing herself with “misplaced” guilt over her mother’s fate.

Euan asks about Adam and then momentarily pretends that he thinks Adam might have done more to help his father. When Janice insists that Adam was far too young to be responsible for his father, Euan points out that she was equally too young to save her mother. Janice realizes that he is right. Euan shows Janice a photo of the real Becky, and Mrs. B says that Augustus knew of her and told Mrs. B her story.

When the doorbell rings, Mrs. B says that it is the wine delivery from Tiberius. Decius runs in, thrilled to see Janice. Mrs. B reveals that she bought Decius from Tiberius for Janice as part of her moving negotiations. She also explains that the £2 million that Tiberius will get for the house will be much less since any attorney’s fees will be deducted and Mycroft’s services were quite pricey. Mycroft, in turn, donated his fee back to college in exchange for Mrs. B’s input on the use of the space.

Janice and Euan leave together after sharing some of Mrs. B’s wine. Their conversation suggests a happy future of dancing and traveling, and Janice realizes that the new bike that Euan is wheeling along is for her.