Father and Daughter Finally Meet — Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World

Orville visits Belmont to secure Thursday's wedding and Evelina's private interview while Lady Louisa and Beaumont suddenly court the guest they once overlooked. Orville publicly introduces her as Miss Belmont and future bride; Louisa's blush shows how shallow the new respect is. Evelina rides to the Hot Wells with Orville, meets Macartney in the parlour, and climbs alone to her father, who calls her child, weeps for Caroline, then orders her away in frantic shame before she can steady him. She gives him his wife's unopened deathbed letter; reading it breaks him completely, and he kneels to beg his daughter's pity, then blesses her through tears and flees, unable yet to sustain her presence. Orville waits below, has secured the interview and wedding date, and has insisted Polly Green be honoured as Evelina's sister and co-heiress. Evelina leaves with love, grief, and gratitude intertwined: a father found and lost in the same hour, and a fiancé whose justice matches his tenderness.