propinquity

/prəˈpiNGkwədē/
noun

1. the state of being close to someone or something; proximity
2. [technical] close kinship

And, in spite of it all, Miss Browning and Miss Phoebe considered themselves as Mr Gibson’s most intimate friends, in right of their regard for his dead wife, and would fain have taken a quasi-motherly interest in his little girl, had she not been guarded by a watchful dragon in the shape of Betty, her nurse, who was jealous of any interference between her and her charge; and especially resentful and disagreeable towards all those ladies who, by suitable age, rank, or propinquity, she thought capable of ‘casting sheep’s eyes at master.’