"when dr. roylott was in india he married my mother, mrs. stoner, the young widow of major-general stoner, of the bengal artillery. my sister julia and i were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother’s re-marriage. she had a considerable sum of money—not less than £ 1000 a year—and this she bequeathed to dr. roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. shortly after our return to england my mother died—she was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near crewe. dr. roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in london and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at stoke moran. the money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.