There was no reckoning upon him for aid of any kind.
From Richmond in Yorkshire, in reply to a letter from Alice, wrote an old, old aunt of the late Mrs.Madden, who had occasionally sent the girls presents.

Her communication was barely legible; it seemed to contain fortifying texts of Scripture, but nothing in the way of worldly counsel.

This old lady had no possessions to bequeath.

And, as far as the girls knew, she was their mother's only surviving relative.
The executor of the will was a Clevedon tradesman, a kind and capable friend of the family for many years, a man of parts and attainments superior to his station.

In council with certain other well-disposed persons, who regarded the Maddens' circumstances with friendly anxiety, Mr.Hungerford (testamentary instruction allowing him much freedom of action) decided that the three elder girls must forthwith become self-supporting, and that the three younger should live together in the care of a lady of small means, who offered to house and keep them for the bare outlay necessitated.