This is a slightly weird tale, but rather fun. It seems that Col. Ashley Hampton is being confronted by his nephew Stephen Hampton and his wife, a lawyer and a shrink. The nephew and niece want to have Col. Hampton committed to an insane asylum. They will, thereby, gain control over his money. The claim for insanity is that Col. Hampton has a "secret friend", to whom he talks.

Well, Col. Hampton does, sort of, have a "secret friend", a being he has named Dearest. But, Dearest is actually a real entity, just not one readily observed/experienced by most people. She is a free spirit, in more ways than one.

So, we get some going back and forth between Col. Hampton's first encountering Dearest, and some of their experiences together, and the drawing room scene with the nephew, niece, lawyer, and shrink. Fortunately, Dearest, has some ideas to provide Col. Hampton, which he can use against his adversaries, and thereby, save the day for him. Something like that. It was kind of cute, and much more interesting than that other piece of crap of Piper's that I read a few months back.
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A gentle dreamy story about the friendship between an old man and ...

well, that would be spoiling it. A pleasant read.

-Lisa Shapter ( )