"Blessington!"
"Blessington!" repeats Essie, her lips parting in some dismay. "I wonder are they—can they be—any relation to Miss Blessington, Sir Thomas Gerard's ward?"
"I really cannot tell you, my dear. You have given us so very little information as to your visit to the Gerards, that I was not even aware that Blessington was the name of Sir Thomas's ward."
Esther passes by the small reproach in silence.
"Perhaps they may be her father and mother," suggests Bessy.
"She has no father nor mother."
"Her grandfather and grandmother?"
"She has no grandfather nor grandmother."
"Her great-uncle and great-aunt?"
"Possibly."