I would advise you, Charlotte, said Mr. Glanville, not to aim at repeating your cousin's words, till you know how to pronounce them properly.
Oh! that's one of her superior excellencies, said Miss Glanville.
Indeed, miss, said Glanville very provokingly, she is superior to you in many things; and as much so in the goodness of her heart, as in the beauty of her person——
Come, come, Charles, said the baronet, who observed his daughter sat swelling and biting her lip at this reproach, personal reflections are better avoided. Your sister is very well, and not to be disparaged; though, to be sure, Lady Bella is the finest woman I ever saw in my life.
Miss Glanville was, if possible, more disgusted at her father's palliation than her brother's reproaches; and, in order to give a loose to her passion, accused Mr. Glanville of a decrease in his affection for her, since he had been in love with her cousin; and having found this excuse for her tears, very freely gave vent to them.
Mr. Glanville being softened by this sight, sacrificed a few compliments to her vanity, which soon restored her to her usual tranquillity; then, turning the discourse on his beloved Arabella, pronounced a panegyric on her virtues and accomplishments of an hour long; which, if it did not absolutely persuade his sister to change her opinion, it certainly convinced his father that his niece was not only perfectly well in her understanding, but even better than most others of her sex.
Mr. Glanville had just finished her eulogium when Arabella appeared. Joy danced in his eyes at her approach; he gazed upon her with a kind of conscious triumph in his looks; her consummate loveliness justifying his passion, and being in his opinion more than an excuse for all her extravagancies.