Diana’s answer to “Is Aunt Agatha actually Daniel's mother?” > Likes and Comments

I just finished reading the book and it never occurred to me that Agatha was Daniel's birth mother. But now that I have seen some passages quoted, I do believe she was. I think the author implies that she gave the baby up to her sister to adopt as her own to give him legitimacy and save her own reputation. She probably went away while she was pregnant. Remember when she says something about how hard she has worked to maintain her respectability? It doesn't preclude her loving Daniel as a nephew, but I think there is more to it than that, and why she favors Daniel over Hugh. I think Holly's response to this question overlooks how a pregnancy could be concealed and not revealed, to save one's reputation in that time and place.

thank you!