Contents
Chapter Sixty-Two
Overview
Six years earlier, Stuart discovers photos from the au pair room showing Jasper with a girl wearing metal leg restraints. He confronts Jessamine, who reveals their father brought sex workers to the house, shackled as “au pairs,” but denies Claire was ever there. Stuart presses about Daisy’s paternity, pushing Jessamine into tears.
Summary
Six years earlier, while searching the house, Stuart finds old negatives and has them developed. Among mostly blurred images, he recognizes the au pair room where Jessamine once imprisoned him. One photo shows a short-haired girl beside a young Jasper; on the floor between the girl’s legs are metal leg restraints.
Enraged, Stuart wakes Jessamine and demands answers. She first feigns ignorance, but when Stuart forces her to focus on the restraints, she admits their father brought sex workers to the house, calling them “au pairs.” The restraints, she says, were to stop them running away. She insists Claire Connolly was never there.
Stuart escalates, asking who fathered Daisy and even voicing dark suspicions about possible abuse within the family. Jessamine lashes out, accusing Stuart of looking for an excuse to leave. He threatens to go to the police with the photo and with evidence of her violence and neglect.
Under pressure, Jessamine breaks, saying she was just a child and doesn’t know the full truth. Stuart comforts her until she stops crying and leaves her to sleep, unresolved questions about Daisy’s paternity and the fate of the “au pair” girls hanging over them.
Who Appears
- StuartNarrator; discovers photos showing restraints, confronts Jessamine about their past and Daisy’s paternity, threatens police involvement.
- Jessamine ValeAdmits their father brought shackled sex workers to the house; denies Claire’s presence; collapses under questioning about Daisy’s father.
- Jasper ValeAppears in the recovered photo beside the restrained girl, suggesting proximity to the au pair room events.
- Unknown girl (au pair/sex worker)Photographed in the au pair room with metal leg restraints, evidence of captivity in the house.
- DaisyReferenced as Jessamine’s daughter; paternity questioned by Stuart, deepening family secrets.