"So," said she, in a scarce audible voice, "darling mamma died of a
broken heart?"

Miss Plympton, said nothing. A long silence followed.

"Had my father no friends," asked Edith, "or no relatives?"

"He had no relatives," said Miss Plympton, "but an only sister. She
married a Captain Dudleigh, now Sir Lionel Dudleigh. But it was a very
unhappy marriage, for they separated. I never knew the cause; and
Captain Dudleigh took it so much to heart that he went abroad. He could
not have heard of your father's misfortunes till all was over and it was
too late. But in any case I do not see what he could have done, unless
he had contrived to shake your father's resolve. As to his wife, I have
never heard of her movements, and I think she must have died long ago.
Neither she nor her husband is mentioned at the trial. If they had been
in England, it seems to me that they would have come forward as
witnesses in some way; so I think they were both out of the country. Sir
Lionel is alive yet, I think, but he has always lived out of the world.
I believe his family troubles destroyed his happiness, and made him
somewhat misanthropical. I have sometimes thought in former years that
he might make inquiries about you, but he has never done so to my
knowledge, though perhaps he has tried without being able to hear where
you were. After all, he would scarcely know where to look. On the whole,
I consider Sir Lionel the only friend you have, Edith darling, besides
myself, and if any trouble should ever arise, he would be the one to
whom I should apply for assistance, or at least advice."

Edith listened to this, and made no comment, but after another