I kind of reproved father for saying so , you remember , but it is true . They have very strange ways . And you 've really seen Kilmeny ? What does she look like ? I 've heard that she was handsome . Is it true ? '' `` I thought her very beautiful , '' said Eric rather curtly . `` But HOW has she been brought up , Mrs. Williamson ? And why ? '' `` Well , I might as well tell you the whole story , Master . Kilmeny is the niece of Thomas and Janet Gordon . Her mother was Margaret Gordon , their younger sister . Old James Gordon came out from Scotland . Janet and Thomas were born in the Old Country and were small children when they came here . They were never very sociable folks , but still they used to visit out some then , and people used to go there . They were kind and honest people , even if they were a little peculiar . `` Mrs. Gordon died a few years after they came out , and four years later James Gordon went home to Scotland and brought a new wife back with him . She was a great deal younger than he was and a very pretty woman , as my mother often told me . She was friendly and gay and liked social life . The Gordon place was a very different sort of place after she came there , and even Janet and Thomas got thawed out and softened down a good bit .
They were real fond XXXXX their stepmother , I 've heard .
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