Max, do you really care for that odious man?
Must I be civil to him ?' 'Indeed, I hope you will be civil, Ursula,' replied Uncle Max, in an alarmed voice.

'My dear, Giles Hamilton, Esq., is my most influential parishioner; he is rich; he doctors all my poor people _gratis_, bullies them one moment, and does them a good turn in the next; he is clever, kind-hearted, and has no end of good points, and, though he is eccentric and has plenty of faults, we chum together excellently, and I am very intimate with his people.' 'His people--who are they ?' I asked irritably.
'Oh, it is a queer household up at Gladwyn,' returned Max, rather uneasily.

'Hamilton has a cousin living with him, as well as his two sisters; her name is Darrell,--Etta Darrell; she is a stylish-looking woman, about five-and-thirty; one never knows a lady's age exactly.' 'Are his sisters very young, then?
Does Miss Darrell manage the house ?' 'Yes.

How could you guess that ?' looking at me in surprise.

'Gladys, Miss Hamilton, is about three-and-twenty, but she is very delicate; the younger one, Elizabeth, is two years younger; they are Hamilton's half-sisters,--his father married twice: that accounts for a good deal.' 'How do you mean,--accounts for a good deal, Max ?' 'Why people say that Hamilton doesn't always get on with his sisters,' he returned reluctantly: 'there are often misunderstandings in families,--want of harmony, and that sort of thing.