'Yes,' observed Mrs Wallington; 'or, rather, I dare say that angel of purity is gone upon the town.'
It was the dark hour, else Colonel Mordaunt's agitation, on hearing these gross and unjust remarks, must have betrayed his secret to every eye; while indignation now impeded his utterance as much as confusion had done before.
'Surely, surely,' cried the kind and candid Emma Douglas, 'I must grossly have mistaken Miss Mowbray's character, if she was capable of the conduct which you attribute to her!'
'My dear creature!' replied Mrs Wallington, 'how should you know any thing of her character, when it was gone long before you knew her?—Character, indeed! you remind me of my brother—Mr Davenport,' continued she to a gentleman present, 'did you ever hear the story of my brother and an angel of purity whom he met with abroad?'
'No—never.'
'Be quiet,' said Maynard; 'I will not be laughed at.'
However, Mrs Wallington and Miss Maynard, who had not yet forgiven the deep impression which Adeline's graces had made on their brother, insisted on telling the story; to which Colonel Mordaunt listened with eager and anxious curiosity. It received all the embellishments which female malice could give it; and if it amused any one, certainly that person was neither Mordaunt, nor Emma Douglas, nor her gentle sister.
'But how fortunate it was,' added Miss Maynard, 'that we were not with my brother! as we should unavoidably have walked and talked with this angel.'
Mordaunt longed to say, 'I think the good fortune was all on Miss Mowbray's side.'
But Adeline and her cause were in good hands: Emma Douglas stood forth as her champion.—'We feel very differently on that subject,' she replied. 'I shall ever regret, not that I saw and conversed with Miss Mowbray, but that I did not see and converse with her again and again.'