The Shocking Discovery at the Assembly — Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World

Orville's tickets take the whole family to the assembly, and he dances with Evelina, to the surprise of the house. He has taken to calling her his friend and his sister. Louisa is so incensed with Merton that she refuses his ticket, will not dance, and will not look at him. He sits the evening beside her doing penance. To Evelina, Louisa stays cold and haughty. Without Orville, the residence would be misery.

He opens the minuets with a young lady new to the Wells, pretty, mild, and watched by the room. Louisa asks Lovel who she is. Miss Belmont, the young heiress, arrived yesterday. Evelina repeats the name, and nobody hears. Pressed, Lovel says she is the only daughter and heiress of Sir John Belmont. The name strikes like a thunderbolt. Selwyn, watching her face, says to be calm. Until then Evelina had not known that Selwyn knew the story. Selwyn knew the unhappy mother, and the whole affair. The girl has just come from abroad with Sir John, who is now in London. She is in the care of his sister, Mrs Paterson, and a considerable estate will come to her.

The evening after that recital is lost. Evelina asks Villars if he has heard of any after-marriage, or if she must suppose that a lawful child is rejected while another is adopted. At home Selwyn spends more than an hour in her room and says she should go to town at once, find her father, and let the resemblance to her mother end the hesitation. Evelina wants only his direction. She has begged secrecy, and Selwyn has promised it. Orville noticed the silence. He was not there when Lovel spoke, and she does not tell him the cause. If Villars approves the journey, Selwyn will go with her. She would far rather have asked Mrs Mirvan, and this offer makes that impossible. She will be all impatience until his letter comes. Which daughter does Sir John mean to own?