Four Daughters Collection

Adam Lemp, the Dean of the Briarwood Music Foundation, has passed on his love of music to his four early adult daughters - Thea, Emma, Kay and Ann - who live with him and his sister, the girls' Aunt Etta, in the long time family home. Of the four, Kay has the greatest promise as a musical performer, specifically as a singer. Theirs is a loving family, however much the girls exasperate their father with their love of popular music, since he loves only the classics, most specifically Beethoven. The girls support each other however they can, but each is an individual with her own distinct personality and wants, including the type of man each wants as a husband. Practical but deep in her heart romantic Emma has long been courted by their next door neighbor, unassuming florist Ernest Talbot, and clever Thea wants to be Mrs. Ben Crowley, he a wealthy up and coming banker with prospects. Only the youngest, the fun loving Ann, states that she doesn't want to get married. Their collective lives change with the entry into their lives of two men. The first is Adam's old friend's son, popular music composer and conductor Felix Deitz, who easily gets a job at the foundation using his natural and sincere charm which he applies to all equally. Many women misconstrue that charm for romantic interest. The second is Felix's acquaintance, musician Mickey Borden, who he hires to orchestrate his latest composition. Mickey has a chip on his shoulders about what life has dealt him, which he uses in turn as a reason for living a reckless life. The two men make each of the four daughters reexamine what she thinks she wants in life, or more precisely who she wants, which for all may be the same person.

Three of the four musically inclined daughters of Adam Lemp, the Dean of the Briarwood Music Foundation, are settling into their lives as wives, but not all is well. Thea Lemp has long since married wealthy banker, Ben Crowley. Thea makes a unilateral decision which may disrupt their marriage. Emma Lemp married their neighbor, florist Ernest Talbot, after realizing that she truly did love him and not their border, composer/conductor Felix Deitz, after Ernest's actions at what was supposed to be Felix and Emma's youngest sister Ann Lemp's wedding. Emma receives some sad news which too may place a pall over her and Ernest's marriage. And Ann, after the suicide death of her husband Mickey Borden who she married as his possible salvation, and Felix are once again engaged, he who she always truly loved. But the memory of Mickey, who was an acquaintance of Felix's, may be a major roadblock on the road to happiness for Ann and Felix, especially as Mickey leaves something a little unexpected of himself that may always be that constant reminder. The fourth daughter, Kay Lemp, is herself embarking on a new relationship, with obstetrician turned research scientist Dr. Clinton Forrest Jr., who is determined to find out what is causing the lung problems, often fatal, of the lumbermen working on the other side of town.

Adam Lemp and his four daughters, Ann, Thea, Kay and Emma, are in a financial and emotional crises. Thea's husband Ben has promoted a Florida housing development to everyone in town, and after a hurricane wipes out the investments of all their friends, the Lemps decide to pay back the losses, even if it costs them their own home. Kay's husband Clint is so devoted to his medical research that he risks losing Kay. And Ann's husband Felix's loneliness puts his marriage at risk when he encounters Kay during an out-of-town trip. Meanwhile, as a result of the antipathy of the townspeople due to the investment disaster, Adam loses his beloved position with the musical society.