"No."
"When did he die?"
"Just after the birth of your sister Winnie."
"Was his name really Maurice?"
The Squire's face was set in a hard mask. He said—"Yes."
"What was his standing?"
"A gentleman of education,—and of good connections."
"How did he come to marry my mother?"
"He had been ill,—and she gained some sort of hold over him. I can only call it insanity. He deeply regretted his action later, there is no doubt,—and none of his own people knew of the marriage till after his death."
"Then he punished his wife for his own folly. The brute!" burst out Maurice.