Chapter 15

To be kind you with fatherly manner to a girl of her age. But no doubt he meant Miss Mullins , I don't suppose you know much abou your relatives , ' he begani , ' and I shall have to bore some family history before you can understand the present position . Your parents died when you were quite young , and you were left without any provision having been made for you; your father's sister , Mrs Rawson , took you in and educated you .

Your mother's people did not even acknowl edge you , since she had made a runaway match soon after the 1914-18 war with the son of a groom on her father's estate in Wales. He was educated and had procured a small post teaching in a school in the south of Spain , but his health failed when you were born - some years after the marriage - and he became a permanent invalid ; from that time your mother earned a living for you all .

She applied to her family for assistance in educating you , but they would have nothing to do with you ... " Now y