Baldwin.

They weren't lesbians and I don't recall anything suggestive of that.

They were classic old maids. Domineering father who drove off any young man whocame around, mother died early so they were practically motherless their whole lives and never learned how to snag a guy via wiles.

They were terrified of their father. One gets the idea that if it had just been one of them, there had been a significant age gap between them, or one of them had been a boy, they would have run off. Their closeness and dependence upon each other is what keot them there.

When their father finally died, they were dedicated old maids, comoleteky codeoendent on each other, and getting married would have meant abandoning a precious us sister. Neither could do it. I'm the absense of any other option, sisters became life partners and sex was set aside.