"Do see if you can find any of my people," cried Lady Delacour.

"Lady Delacour, the comic muse!" exclaimed Mr. Hervey. "I thought--"

"No matter what you thought," interrupted her ladyship. "Let my carriage
draw up, for here's a young friend of yours trembling so about _nothing_,
that I am half afraid she will faint; and you know it would not be so
pleasant to faint here amongst footmen. Stay! this room is empty. O, I did
not mean to tell _you_ to stay," said she to Hervey, who involuntarily
followed her in the utmost consternation.

"I'm perfectly well, now--perfectly well," said Belinda.

"Perfectly a simpleton, I think," said Lady Delacour. "Nay, my dear, you
must be ruled; your mask must come off: didn't you tell me you wanted
air?--What now! This is not the first time Clarence Hervey has ever seen
your face without a mask, is it? It's the first time indeed he, or anybody
else, ever saw it of such a colour, I believe."

When Lady Delacour pulled off Belinda's mask, her face was, during the
first instant, pale; the next moment, crimsoned over with a burning blush.

"What is the matter with ye both? How he stands!" said Lady Delacour,
turning to Mr. Hervey. "Did you never see a woman blush before?--or did
you never say or do any thing to make a woman blush before? Will you give
Miss Portman a glass of water?--there's some behind you on that sideboard,
man!--but he has neither eyes, ears, nor understanding.--Do go about your
business," said her ladyship, pushing him towards the door--"Do go about
your business, for I haven't common patience with you: on my conscience I