Source note

VORDAC (Marquise de), born in 1769, mistress of the rich Lord Dudley; she had by him a son, Henry. To legitimize this child she arranged a marriage with Marsay, a bankrupt old gentleman of tarnished reputation. He demanded payment of the interest on a hundred thousand francs as a reward for his marriage, and he died without having known his wife. The widow of Marsay became by her second marriage the well-known Marquise de Vordac. She neglected her duties as mother until late in life, and paid no attention to Henri de Marsay except to propose Miss Stevens as a suitable wife for him. [The Thirteen.]