They were very poor, and yet they gave him a good education.

I ought to say, _she_ gave him, for everything that needed effort or energy was done by my great-grandmother.

The more it became evident that her Bertrand de Vandaleur was less helpful and practical than any Bertrand de Vandaleur before him, the more there seems to have developed in her the purpose and capability inherited from Mrs.Janet.Like many another poor and ambitious mother, she studied Latin and Greek and algebra that she might teach her son.

And at the same time she saved, even out of their small income.

She began to "put by" from the boy's birth for his education, and when the time came he was sent to school.
My grandfather did well.