These nearest of kin were naturally impressed with the unreasonableness of expectations in cousins and second cousins, and used their arithmetic in reckoning the large sums that small legacies might mount to, if there were too many of them.

这些最近的亲属自然对堂兄弟和远房堂兄弟的期望值的不合理印象深刻，并使用他们的算术来计算小遗产可能会增加的巨额金额，如果他们太多的话。