Not to get too deep into the details, it eventually comes out when she's about fourteen that Ellen isn't orphaned after all, that she has rich Scottish relatives and they want her back, but they're all into drinking wine and having fun OH NOES, so Ellen has to go live with them until she's eighteen and all and they won't let her write to John and they force her to drink wine, WOE, and they won't let her pray because it kind of gives them the wig, not to put too fine a point on it, and the uncle is kind of a John figure in his need to control Ellen, only he is not of the Lord. Because he drinks wine and makes Ellen read racy French novels instead of books about George Washington. Which--I mean, yeah, you kind of want to root for the Scottish uncle because you're like, "Damn, Ellen, live a little," but he's so forcible about the whole thing that it's like, "READ THE FRENCH PORN, ELLEN!" It's way creepy.