Mademoiselle would be turned out of doors.

"I must not be ungrateful," said she. "La Rue is very kind to me;
besides I can, when I see Montraville, inform him of the impropriety of
our continuing to see or correspond with each other, and request him to
come no more to Chichester."

However prudent Charlotte might be in these resolutions, she certainly
did not take a proper method to confirm herself in them. Several times
in the course of the day, she indulged herself in reading over the
letter, and each time she read it, the contents sunk deeper in her
heart. As evening drew near, she caught herself frequently consulting
her watch. "I wish this foolish meeting was over," said she, by way of
apology to her own heart, "I wish it was over; for when I have seen him,
and convinced him my resolution is not to be shaken, I shall feel my
mind much easier."

The appointed hour arrived. Charlotte and Mademoiselle eluded the eye of
vigilance; and Montraville, who had waited their coming with impatience,
received them with rapturous and unbounded acknowledgments for their
condescension: he had wisely brought Belcour with him to entertain
Mademoiselle, while he enjoyed an uninterrupted conversation with
Charlotte.

Belcour was a man whose character might be comprised in a few words; and
as he will make some figure in the ensuing pages, I shall here describe
him. He possessed a genteel fortune, and had a liberal education;
dissipated, thoughtless, and capricious, he paid little regard to
the moral duties, and less to religious ones: eager in the pursuit of
pleasure, he minded not the miseries he inflicted on others, provided