Virtue of Patricia, exceptional niece (8)

I believe the answer is:

patience

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'virtue' is the definition.
(I have seen 'The virtue' mean 'patience' so perhaps 'virtue' could also mean 'patience')

'patricia exceptional niece' is the wordplay.
'patricia' becomes 'pat' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'exceptional' is an anagram indicator (an unusual or exceptional ordering of the letters).
'niece' with letters rearranged gives 'ience'.
'pat'+'ience'='PATIENCE'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for patience that I've seen before include "Gilbertian dairymaid" , "G & S' alternative for "Bunthorne''s Bride"" , "Composure" , "Calm endurance as in card game for one" , "Waiting without complaint" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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