Here Lord Osborne's newspaper rustled very much as he changed the position of his elbows, and Fanny looked round. His face was still invisible, so she had nothing to do but continue her narrative.
"Now you must know my cousin is in delicate health, nervous and excitable, and of course, like all such ladies, takes the English substitute for a cavalier-servante, namely a doctor. Her doctor, this Mr. Morgan, is reckoned a very clever man, and so I think he must be, for all ladies he attends, old and young, are, from half in love, to the greatest extreme of the tender passion. I believe his character is not quite sans tache et sans reproche, which decidedly renders him a more interesting object; and his manners are so exceedingly devoted and tender, that really I felt inclined to fall ill, that I might be attended by him. He proposed Emma Watson as governess, recommended her highly, and carried on the negotiation very successfully, when somehow or other, my cousin took alarm about the extraordinary interest of his manner, and having discovered that Emma was reckoned handsome, began to think it would not do. However, as she is very kind and candid, she would not condemn her without some enquiry; she has some inferior acquaintance in the town—I used to wonder why she kept them up—some old young ladies, great gossips; but I have found out now the use of them: when she wants a cook, or a nurse, or a governess, or a tiresome piece of work done, or a charitable collection made in her name, she turns over all the trouble to these Miss Jenkins or some such name, (one cannot recollect their plebeian denominations,) and they are only too proud and happy to fuss about for dear Lady Fanny, who in return invites them sometimes to tea, and asks her governess to meet them. Well, these amiable and obliging virgins were quite scandalized that the dear Lady Fanny should have been so nearly led into a grievous scrape by hiring the said Emma Watson, who besides sundry other offences, had been guilty of carrying on a very discreditable acquaintance with this very Mr. Morgan. Clandestine meetings, and private conversations in dark rooms, long walks in solitary lanes, and all that sort of thing. Now he is certainly not a man to be trusted in any other capacity than a doctor—nobody has a word to say against him in that particular—but certainly not the man to be safe in a tête-à-tête with a girl he admired—at least so far as her character was concerned; and Lady Fanny, quite scandalized, settled the matter at once by an instant rupture of the negotiation. I dare say," added the narrator laughing, "she did not want a rival so near her own person."
"And that is your narrative, is it?" said Lady Gordon; "it seems to me to reflect much more discredit on your cousin than on my friend."
"Upon my word, Rosa, you are rather free in your remarks on my relatives," exclaimed Fanny very indignantly.
"I beg your pardon; I have not complained of what you have been saying of my friend and guest."
"But what is there remarkable in Lady Fanny's proceedings to strike you with wonder? I think it was quite natural; setting aside any jealousy of Emma, she was surely right not to bring into her house, as governess to her daughter, a girl who had anything like a slur on her character."
"Excuse my saying that if Lady Fanny did not object to employing the man in question as a physician, she had no right to take umbrage if another permitted him as a companion."
"But I understood there was something quite improper in the way in which she commenced and carried on the acquaintance—quite clandestine and against her sister's known opinion. In fact, the whole affair was so shocking that no one would speak to Emma at Croydon, and she was obliged to leave the town in disgrace. In short, her reputation there was completely mise en pièce."
"I am perfectly persuaded," replied Lady Gordon, "that you have been exceedingly deceived in this affair. As to believing Emma Watson guilty of anything deserving censure, I cannot until it is proved."
"I should have thought my authority good enough," said Miss Carr.