Mrs. Henry Windle Vale Charlotte was a late child. There were three boys, then after a long time, this girl. "A child of my old age," I've always called her. I was well into my forties, and her father passed on soon after she was born. My ugly duckling. Of course it's true that all late children are marked. Often such children aren't wanted. That can mark them. I've kept her close by me always. When she was young, foolish, I made decisions for her. Always the right decisions.
