When All Is Said

The time is 7:47 pm, the second toast is to Molly, and the drink is a 21-year-old malt whiskey, Bushmills. The bar fills up before the event, and the staff serves everyone rapidly before they move to another room for dinner. Maurice remembers some of the new guests, though he struggles with names. He respects his fellow farmers’ adaptability and love for the land, discussing solar panels with one.

Maurice remembers his first whiskey, which he disliked at first but came to love. He internally tells Kevin that though he only met Molly for 15 minutes, she stayed in his heart forever. He describes how he and Sadie were never able to talk to each other about their grief when they didn’t conceive a child, reflecting on how hard it is for older generations who were never taught how to communicate. Maurice and Sadie eventually get help from a doctor, despite his concern about the cost. When Sadie became pregnant with Molly, she glowed with joy, buying items for the baby, whom she was certain was a girl. Business was thriving for Maurice, and he continued to work hard, pleased that he would be able to provide for his new family. When Sadie was concerned that something was wrong with the baby, he left for a business deal and only took her to the hospital afterward. They lost the baby and were devastated.

Maurice’s guilt drove him to avoid Sadie. He didn’t want to try for another child but agreed out of guilt. He was incredibly attentive during her second pregnancy. As Kevin grew, Maurice imagined Molly the whole time. He renegotiated his faith, unable to forgive either himself or God. He still sees and talks with Tony and Molly regularly.

Maurice internally tells Kevin that Emily reminds him of Molly. He remembers arranging Kevin’s wedding at the hotel that Jason had opened in the big house. He slightly regrets his coldness to Jason, whose tenacity he respected, especially after he died of cancer. Maurice’s resentment of the hotel led to a fight with Sadie, who just wanted their son to be happy. He won her over by arranging a stay in the hotel for Kevin and his fiancée, Rosaleen, before the wedding. While arranging this, he met Jason’s daughter, Emily, who had to come back to deal with the debt-ridden hotel. After Jason’s death, Emily’s mother was not functional. Emily broke down and blamed Maurice’s financial treatment of her parents for her difficult situation. He immediately warmed to her, projecting Molly onto her self-sacrificing nature. He bought her a Bushmills whiskey and offered to put in the money needed to keep the hotel. He ended up owning 49% as a silent partner, which only he, Emily, and his lawyer, Robert, knew about. He told Molly about it and saw her give a thumbs up. The three of them never spoke of this financial arrangement again until one day, in 2006, Robert told Maurice that Emily wanted to meet him. Maurice was hesitant, but Robert pressed him to do it.

Maurice met Emily at the hotel where she arranged for them to have dinner and gave him a Bushmills whiskey. Proud of her achievements, she presented him with a check for his share of the hotel’s first-ever significant profit. He didn’t want it as he hadn’t made the choice because of business. When she objected, he asked for the full story of Thomas’s disinheritance over the coin instead.

She explained why the coin was rare. It was minted especially for Edward VIII’s coronation, which was supposed to take place in 1937. Edward VIII defied tradition: Heirs were supposed to face the opposite way from their predecessor, but he insisted on facing the same way as he thought his left side was more handsome. He also insisted an extra coin be minted for his lover, Wallis. However, he was never crowned, giving up the throne as he constitutionally he couldn’t marry a divorcée. He threw the coin away via his footman, who gave it to Hugh Dollard to pay off his gambling debt to him. Both Hugh and Thomas became obsessed with it and knew it would be valuable one day. Thomas spent his life searching for it after its loss—Emily told Maurice he was never right since.

At home, Maurice studied the coin. He mulled over Edward VIII’s wealth compared to his and his sacrifices for love. He started dreaming of the coin at night. While in Dublin to look at a land deal, he went to an antique shop where the owner confirmed the probable existence of this coin and its immense value.

He kept the coin secret from Sadie, knowing she’d encourage him to give it back. He felt that by putting money into Emily’s hotel, he balanced the scales. However, the coin worried him. He remembers sitting in his car looking at a hill he associated with Molly, as he would often see her there. That time, she looked at him and told him the coin wasn’t his. When he retorted that it wasn’t the Dollards’ either, she didn’t back down, telling him the coin had one last job to do before disappearing over the hill.