AND, AS TOM SAYS, "NO MISTAKE."

"The gentleman who prevented my taking off the young lady is uncle to
both of us. We are, therefore, first cousins. Our family name is
Wharncliffe. My father was a major in the army. He died when I was
young, and my mother is still alive, and is sister to Lady Auburn. The
father and mother of Cecilia are both dead. He went out to India to
join his brother, another uncle, of whom I shall speak directly. He has
now been dead three years, and out of the four brothers there is only
one left, my uncle; with whom Cecilia is living, and whose Christian
name is Henry. He was a lawyer by profession, but he purchased a patent
place, which he still enjoys. My father, whose name was William, died
in very moderate circumstances; but still he left enough for my mother
to live upon, and to educate me properly. I was brought up to the law
under my uncle Henry, with whom, for some years, I resided. Cecilia's
father, whose name was Edward, left nothing; he had ruined himself in
England, and had gone out to India at the request of my uncle there,
whose name was James, and who had amassed a large fortune. Soon after
the death of Cecilia's father, my uncle James came home on furlough, for
he held a very high and lucrative situation under the Company. A
bachelor from choice, he was still fond of young people; and having but
one nephew and one niece to leave his money to, as soon as he arrived
with Cecilia, whom he brought with him, he was most anxious to see me.
He therefore took up his quarters with my uncle Henry, and remained with
him during his sojourn in England; but my uncle James was of a very cold
and capricious temper. He liked me best because I was a boy, and one
day declared I should be his heir. The next day he would alter his
intention, and declare that Cecilia, of whom he was very fond, should
inherit everything. If we affronted him, for at the age of sixteen as a
boy, and fourteen as a girl, worldly prospects were little regarded, he
would then declare that we should not be a shilling the better for his
money. With him money was everything: it was his daily theme of
conversation, his only passion; and he valued and respected people in
proportion to what they were supposed to possess. With these feelings
he demanded for himself the greatest deference from Cecilia and me, as
his expectant heirs. This he did not receive; but on the whole he was
pleased with us, and after remaini