Complex sentence: Although Helene at times yearned for the love of her mother, she never really received any maternal love from her mother; that maternal presence came from her sister, Malvina, and a woman in the neighborhood affectionately called' the Pale Countess.
Split into simpler sentences: Although Helene at times yearned for the love of her mother, she never really received any maternal love from her mother. Instead, any maternal presence came from her sister, Malvina, and a woman in the neighborhood affectionately called' the Pale Countess.