(Untitled)

"So she had," cried Scrooge. "You're right. I will not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!"

"She died a woman," said the Ghost, "and had, as I think, children."

"One child," Scrooge returned.

"True," said the Ghost. "Your nephew!"

Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, "Yes."

Wow. We were just talking the other night about the nephew has no name. In the stage production, they call him Fred, but so far in the text, no name. And then we learn that this nephew is the only child of dearly departed little sister.

It's Scrooge's consciousness through which the narration occurs; we are riding Scrooge's coattails through the text. He's buried the pain of his sister's death so deeply he can't even think his nephew's name.