Summary
In a narrative steeped in the intricate dance of fate and familial machinations, Harry Kelly, a purveyor of literary treasures, first encounters the winsome Mollie Lester amidst the hallowed halls of a women's seminary. Their paths, seemingly divergent, soon intertwine again under vastly different circumstances when Mollie is discovered in the employ of the ailing, yet immensely affluent, Crandall Barker, serving as his dedicated nurse. Unbeknownst to the venerable Barker, Mollie carries a profound secret: she is the progeny of his long-disinherited daughter, a poignant legacy of a past transgression he vehemently sought to erase. A peculiar bond blossoms between Barker and Kelly, leading the eccentric invalid to retain the bookseller not merely for his literary acumen but as a kind of personal jester, a fount of amusement to stave off the monotony of his confinement. However, this seemingly benign arrangement soon unravels into a darker tapestry of deceit. Kelly, with his unassuming charm, unearths a sinister conspiracy orchestrated by Barker's own nephew—a sanctimonious reverend—and a conniving doctor, whose avarice drives them to plot the elderly man's abduction and the insidious swindling of his considerable fortune. The stage is thus set for a dramatic confrontation, where loyalty, hidden identities, and the pursuit of justice collide against a backdrop of inherited wealth and moral corruption.
Harry Kelly, a bookseller, meets pretty young Mollie Lester at a women's seminary. He runs into her again sometime later when he finds her employed as nurse to the wealthy invalid Crandall Barker. What Barker doesn't know is that Mollie is the child of his daughter whom he had disinherited some years earlier. Barker takes to Harry, and hires him as a sort of jester to keep him amused. Then Harry learns of a plot by Barker's nephew, a reverend and a doctor to kidnap the old man and swindle him out of his money.
