From this marriage sprang all their misfortune.

The nephew which this marriage introduced to their family became their bane as well as their delight.

From being a careless spendthrift boy he became a reckless, scheming man, adding extravagance to extravagance, till, to support him and meet his debts, these poor aunts gave up first their luxuries, then their home and finally their very livelihood.

Not that they acknowledged this.

The feeling they both cherished for him was more akin to infatuation than to ordinary family love.