in sum , this evidence is certainly not conclusive , but it does indicate cortland might have been stella 's father but then again , julien , in spite of his great age , may have been her father we do n't know whatever the case , stella was pretty much 'the favorite child ' from the time of her birth daniel mcintyre certainly seems to have loved her as if she were his own daughter , and it is entirely possible that he never knew she was not of the early childhood of all three children , we know little that is specific , and richard llewellyn 's portrait is the most intimate we possess as the children grew older , there was more and more talk about dissension , however , and when carlotta went to board at the sacred heart at the age of fourteen , everyone knew it was against mary beth 's wishes , and that daniel , too , was heartbroken , and wanted his daughter to come home more often than she did carlotta is never described as a happy child by anyone but it is difficult to this day to gather information about her , because she is still living , and even people who knew her fifty years ago are extremely afraid of her , and of her influence , and very reluctant to say anything about her at all .