I'm reading an interesting, light book, An American Heiress by Dorothy Eden. The illegitimate dgt of a wealthy New Yorker is left with his widow by the house servant mother. The child grew up to become the maid of the legtimate dgt, but also educated with her. As adults the legtimate dgt is engaged to an English lord who needs her money to keep his estate operating. She and her step-sister and mother sail on the Luisitania to the wedding in England!!!
Yes! Hettie, the "maid", survives, the mother and fiancee die. The mother in an attempt to save her jewelry had made Hettie wear some of it when they were forced to abandon ship. When Hettie was found alive she was mistaken for the bride-to-be. She follows thru and marries the lord, who had only met the bride-to-be one brief time. It sounds like a stupid scenario, but Eden makes it seem plausible. The lord marries and hurries off to the trenches in WWI, Hetty takes control of her "inheritance", which you could say she rightly deserves being the other spawn of the father, and efficently and soundly uses it to fix up the estate. There is a woman who anticipated being the wife of the lord but had no money who is obviously going to be a problem. Also sounds silly, but i'm enjoying it.
I know that somewhere down the years she's going to get "caught." that's the suspense.
