“I dare say not,” replied her ladyship; “but I can see a very great impropriety in a young woman’s strolling about by herself and throwing herself in the way of profligate young men.” Such an accusation or insinuation as this would have been too much for a meeker spirit than that of Miss Glossop to bear with patience; and the young lady accordingly felt violently indignant, and coloured deeply; and with quivering lip and agitated voice replied, “Lady Aimwell, I don’t understand such insinuations. My father did not send me here to be insulted.” What the climax of this speech might have been, is unknown. It was manifest, by the intonation of the young lady’s voice, that she had not arrived at the conclusion of the sentence, but her agitation and indignation suffered her not to proceed farther with verbal reply or expostulation, and she found relief in a shower of tears; and in a true tragedy passion she threw herself upon the sofa, where Sir George Aimwell had a few minutes before been lounging in his dirty boots. But neither the young lady’s eloquence nor her tears could soften the heart of Lady Aimwell, who, instead of diminishing the asperity of her rebukes, continued her reproaches, and observed: “You may put yourself into as great a passion as you please, Miss Glossop, but give me leave to tell you that, while you are under this roof, I consider myself responsible for your conduct. And if you cannot behave yourself properly here, you must be sent home and put into safer custody. A pretty story indeed Sir George has been amusing me with! and Colonel Crop too is to have the honour of negociating with Miss Glossop, and offering to her acceptance the hand of Lord Spoonbill. And can you really be so weak as to imagine that his lordship would think of making a proposal of this nature to you; the very mode of making the offer is insulting.” This was rather a long speech for Lady Aimwell to make, and for Miss Glossop to hear without interrupting it. But her ladyship took breath and proceeded deliberately, while Miss Glossop was sobbing and sighing in the speechless bitterness of her heart. As soon, however, as she recovered the power of speech, Arabella did use her tongue most actively and angrily, protesting that there was not a word of truth in the whole story, and that she had not even seen Colonel Crop since her accidentally meeting with Lord Spoonbill. The young lady, however, though denying the truth of the accusation, did not seem to regard the matter, supposing it might be true, as anything very heinous; nor did she think that, if Colonel Crop should actually state to her in so many words that Lord Spoonbill was in love with her, she should treat the information with foul scorn.