After Grandfather Young 's death there had been a wretched quarrel over the property . Father always said that he had been as much to blame as Uncle William , but Great-aunt Emily told us that Uncle William had been by far the most to blame , and that he had behaved scandalously to Father . Moreover , she said that Father had gone to him when cooling-down time came , apologized for what he had said , and asked Uncle William to be friends again ; and that William , simply turned his back on Father and walked into the house without saying a word , but , as Great-aunt Emily said , with the Young temper sticking out of every kink and curve of his figure . Great-aunt Emily is our aunt on Mother 's side , and she does not like any of the Youngs except Father and Uncle Norman . This was why we had never visited Monkshead . We had never seen Uncle William , and we always thought of him as a sort of ogre when we thought of him at all . When we were children , our old nurse , Margaret Hannah , used to frighten us into good behaviour by saying ominously , `` If you ` uns aint good your Uncle William 'll cotch you . '' What he would do to us when he `` cotched '' us she never specified , probably reasoning that the unknown was always more terrible than the known . My private opinion in those days was that he would boil us in oil and pick our bones . Uncle Norman and Aunt Jean had been living out west for years . Three months before this Christmas they had come east , bought a house in Monkshead , and settled there . They had been down to see us , and Father and Mother and the boys had been up to see them , but we three girls had not ; so we were pleasantly excited at the thought of spending Christmas there . Christmas morning was fine , white as a pearl and clear as a diamond . We had to go by the seven o'clock train , since there was no other before eleven , and we reached Monkshead at eight-thirty . When we stepped from the train the stationmaster asked us if we were the three Miss Youngs . Alberta pleaded guilty , and he said , `` Well , here 's a letter for you then . '' We took the letter and went into the waiting room with sundry misgivings . What had happened ? Were Uncle Norman and Aunt Jean quarantined for scarlet fever , or had burglars raided the pantry and carried off the Christmas supplies ? Elizabeth opened and read the letter aloud .
It was from Aunt XXXXX to the following effect : DEAR GIRLS : I am so sorry to disappoint you , but I can not help it .
Elizabeth Father Jean Mother Norman aint kink morning o'clock ogre