Worth went to live with our mother 's only living relative , an aunt . My father and I removed to another section of the country . He , too , died soon after , and I was brought up with an uncle 's family . My sister came to see me once when she was a girl of seventeen and , as I remember her , very like you are now . I never saw her again and eventually lost trace of her . Many years later I endeavoured to find out her whereabouts . Our aunt was dead , and the people in the village where she had lived informed me that my sister was also dead . She had married a man named Gordon and had gone away , both she and her husband had died , and I was informed that they left no children , so I made no further inquiries . There is no doubt that you are her daughter . Well , well , this is a pleasant surprise , to find a little niece in this fashion ! '' It was a pleasant surprise to Worth , too , who had thought herself all alone in the world and had felt her loneliness keenly . They had a wonderful evening , talking and questioning and explaining . Mr. Kirby declared that Worth must come and live with them . `` We have no daughter , '' he said . `` You must come to us in the place of one , Worth . '' Mrs. Kirby seconded this with a cordiality that won Worth 's affection at once . The girl felt almost bewildered by her happiness . `` I feel as if I were in a dream , '' she said to Millicent as they walked to their boarding-house . `` It 's really all too wonderful to grasp at once . You do n't know , Millie , how lonely I 've felt often under all my nonsense and fun .
Aunt Delia was kind XXXXX me , but she was really no relation , she had a large family of her own , and I have always felt that she looked upon me as a rather inconvenient duty .
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