Harriet and the Piper

This is the story of Miss Harriet Field, 27, strikingly beautiful, and employed by the wealthy Carter family. Originally the nanny to Nina, her duties have expanded to being secretary to Mrs. Isabelle Carter, friend to son Ward and the go-to person when there is tea to be poured.Isabelle Carter is a gorgeous 41 year old woman and she knows it! A huge flirt, she is pursued by men of all ages. Her husband, Richard keeps very much in the background and Harriet is the only one who really sees him.Ward is so much fun to be around and even though Harriet is the older of the two she does seriously consider his offer to marry him.Everything is going along quite nicely for Harriet until a certain gentleman named Royal Blondinappears on the scene. It would seem that Harriet is a woman with a past, a past which included Blondin and she is seriously freaked out when she sees him for the first time in years. They come to an agreement to pretend they'd never met. This benefits Blondin in that he is quite interested in Nina and the fabulous inheritance she's about to come into.In an amazing twist, Isabelle actually runs off with one of her particularly young admirers. Apparently in the 1920's this was considered to be in such bad taste that the entire family has to abruptly leave town to escape inevitable gossip.The family has come to depend on Harriet even more during this stressful time. Harriet realizes that she is in love with Richard Carter, who actually suggests to Harriet they marry to keep people from talking. Harriet refuses, saying she can't marry a divorced man, which is interesting because you know she must have done something completely horrific with Royal Blondin, but what?Isabelle's sudden death changes everything and puts into motion the situation where Harriet will inevitably have to pay the piper as the mistake she made years ago is exposed and she's about to lose everything.This is such a fantastic little story. I liked Harriet a lot and don't blame her for wondering if she should marry Ward. She had a tough childhood and there just weren't a lot of options for women with no money at that time. She really held the family together after the selfish Isabelle took off. Even Richard's nightmare of a mother was eventually accepting of her, once she was done trying to make Harriet's life hell. Loved this book!