How much will you be surprised, my dearest sir, at receiving so soon
another letter from London in your Evelina's writing. An accident,
equally unexpected and disagreeable, has postponed our journey to Lady
Howard at Howard Grove.
We went last night to see the "Fantocini," a little comedy in French and
Italian, by puppets, and when it was over, and we waited for our coach,
a tall, elderly, foreign-looking woman brushed quickly past us, calling
out, "My God! What shall I do? I have lost my company, and in this place
I don't know anybody."
"We shall but follow the golden rule," said Mrs. Mirvan, "if we carry
her to her lodgings."
We therefore admitted her to her coach, to carry her to Oxford Road. Let
me draw a veil over a scene too cruel for a heart so compassionate as
yours, and suffice it to know that, in the course of our ride, this
foreigner proved to be Madame Duval--the grandmother of your Evelina!
When we stopped at her lodgings she desired me to accompany her into the
house, and said she could easily procure a room for me to sleep in.