THE TAVERN WENCH

Poor but honest and well-bred, Victorian orphan Keziah is drudging her youth away as a Cheapside barmaid. So when a mysterious lawyer makes her a peculiar proposition, she jumps at the chance. She is to impersonate the long-dead niece of Lucy Carileph, Lady Rutledge, wealthy widow of Carileph Towers, Yorkshire. Keziah has been sought for this purpose by the heir, dark, handsome Charles, who will get the Towers but not the money to keep up appearances; this goes to his cousin Nathan. Sensible, sober Keziah does not have her head quite turned by her fine new clothes and wealth, nor by the gay companionship of Charles' sister Violet, and she wonders a bit about a suspicious fire. But when Charles proposes a secret engagement so that Aunt Lucy will never know he is marrying an impostor, Keziah is a gone goose. The usual threats of death and dastardly plots follow, along with a helpful ghost. Hot buttered rum, a bit heavy, but suitable for bedtime.