The Price of Neighborly Bonds

On New Year's Eve, back in the village she grew up in, Lily Parker is accused by her cousin Clara Langley of being the other woman in someone's marriage. Lily has come home meaning to help the village get on its feet. She explains herself over and over. Her own family does not believe her, and the villagers have their fixed ideas about her already, and the accusation sticks. She takes a good deal of abuse over it, and she decides to prove what actually happened and to push back. She had left the village years before to find work in the city, and after a long stretch of hard going she ended up running a large company, the sort of position people back home envied. Once she is home, the talk turns spiteful, and there is corruption inside the factory to deal with on top of it.