His Mercury, having made his observations, reported that there
was nobody in the coach but Mrs. Hornbeck and an elderly woman,
who had all the air of a duenna; and that the servant was not the
same footman who had attended them in France. Encouraged by this
information, our hero ordered himself to be driven close up to
that side of their convenience on which his old mistress sat, and
accosted her with the usual salutation. This lady no sooner beheld
her gallant than her cheeks reddened with a double glow, and she
exclaimed, "Dear brother, I am overjoyed to see you! Pray come into
our coach." He took the hint immediately, and, complying with her
request, embraced this new sister with great affection.
Perceiving that her attendant was very much surprised and alarmed
at this unexpected meeting, she, in order to banish her suspicion,
and at the same time give her lover his cue, told him that his
brother (meaning her husband) was gone to the Spa for a few weeks,
by the advice of physicians, on account of his ill state of health;
and that, from his last letter, she had the pleasure to tell him
he was in a fair way of doing well.
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