“⁠⸺⁠shire? That is a hundred miles off! Who may she be that sends for people to see her that distance?”

“Her name is Reed, sir⁠— Mrs. Reed.”

“Reed of Gateshead? There was a Reed of Gateshead, a magistrate.”

“It is his widow, sir.”

“And what have you to do with her? How do you know her?”

“ Mr. Reed was my uncle⁠—my mother’s brother.”

“The deuce he was! You never told me that before: you always said you had no relations.”