Cousin Maude

A mother makes a desperate choice: to trust her daughter's future to a man she barely knows. When widow Matilda marries the wealthy Dr. Kennedy, she believes she's secured a comfortable home for her young daughter Maude. Instead, she finds a miser who sees her only as a housekeeper, and a crippled son the doctor refuses to acknowledge. After Matilda's death, Maude is left alone with her promise to care for the boy no matter what. Years later, she encounters her stepsister Nellie's cousins: the charming JC and the quiet James. Nellie has set her sights on JC, who seems more interested in her fortune than her heart. But as Maude finds herself drawn to James, JC suddenly remembers her existence the moment news of her inheritance arrives. Who truly loves her, and who loves her money? In this sharp-eyed Victorian romance, Holmes dissects the transactional nature of marriage, the weight of duty, and whether a woman can find genuine affection in a world that sees her only as an asset.