He ran through nearly all of his patrimony--never a very large one; and had it not been for my grand-aunt's little fortune, his days, had he lived, must have ended in comparative poverty.

Comparative, not actual; for the Meltons, who are persons of considerable pride, would not have tolerated a poverty-stricken branch of the family.

We don't think much of that lot--any of us.
Fortunately, my great-aunt Patience had only one child, and the premature decease of Captain St.Leger (as I prefer to call the name) did not allow of the possibility of her having more.

She did not marry again, though my grandmother tried several times to arrange an alliance for her.

She was, I am told, always a stiff, uppish person, who would not yield herself to the wisdom of her superiors.