Mrs. Vanstone's letter extended to some length. The first part of it
referred to Captain Wragge, and entered unreservedly into all necessary
explanations relating to the man himself and to the motive which had
brought him to Combe-Raven.

It appeared from Mrs. Vanstone's statement that her mother had been
twice married. Her mother's first husband had been a certain Doctor
Wragge--a widower with young children; and one of those children was
now the unmilitary-looking captain, whose address was "Post-office,
Bristol." Mrs. Wragge had left no family by her first husband; and had
afterward married Mrs. Vanstone's father. Of that second marriage Mrs.
Vanstone herself was the only issue. She had lost both her parents
while she was still a young woman; and, in course of years, her mother's
family connections (who were then her nearest surviving relatives) had
been one after another removed by death. She was left, at the present
writing, without a relation in the world--excepting, perhaps, certain
cousins whom she had never seen, and of whose existence even, at the
present moment, she possessed no positive knowledge.

Under these circumstances, what family claim had Captain Wragge on Mrs.
Vanstone?

None whatever. As the son of her mother's first husband, by that
husband's first wife, not even the widest stretch of courtesy could have
included him at any time in the list of Mrs. Vanstone's most distant
relations. Well knowing this (the letter proceeded to say), he had
nevertheless persisted in forcing himself upon her as a species of
family connection: and she had weakly sanctioned the intrusion,
solely from the dread that he would otherwise introduce himself to
Mr. Vanstone's notice, and take unblushing advantage of Mr. Vanstone's