"Step-mother? Ah, I see—the wife that my cousin Leonard married, and they had children. Yes, of course. That must be so nice for Averil."
"No; nonsense," returned Mr. Harland, still more amused. "You have got wrong notions altogether. Mr. Willmot never had any other child but Averil, and a boy who died. His second wife had a grown-up family; her name was Mrs. Seymour."
"And he married her? But that seems strange," observed Annette, for she was not without shrewdness.
"Oh, men do strange things sometimes. Mrs. Seymour was a very handsome woman, and she could make herself fascinating."
"And she was rich?"
"Rich? Oh, no; tolerably well to do; that was all."
"And the grown-up children—how many are there who live with my cousin Averil?"
"Three, without counting Lottie Jones. There is Maud; she is the eldest, and a fine, handsome girl she is, too; and Georgina, and Rodney. Rodney is his mother's darling; a good-looking, idle young scamp of a fellow."
"And Lottie Jones—and who may that be?"
"Well, Lottie is a sort of hanger-on—a niece of Mrs. Seymour; and it seems she has no one belonging to her but this aunt. She is a nice little girl, and Averil is very fond of her."