Belinda

It is at this point, entirely by chance, that Hervey meets Mr. Moreton, a Good Samaritan minister Hervey helped years earlier when the minister’s reputation was sullied by the malicious wags of Lady Delacour’s inner circle. Moreton tells Hervey that he is trying to help a man named Hartley who came to his church in hope of finding his long-lost daughter. The man tells Moreton that the girl grew up nearby and was raised by the man’s mother. The man keeps a locket with his daughter’s portrait in it. Moreton tells a shocked Hervey that the girl in the miniature portrait bears a striking resemblance to his Virginia. Determined to find the man, Hervey uses his own portrait of the girl to locate Hartley. He uses the gallery to display the portrait and, against long odds, succeeds in finding the man.

Lady Delacour is moved by Hervey’s packet explaining his involvement with Virginia/Rachel. She recognizes, however, that Belinda and Vincent have entered into an engagement agreement. She suspects that Vincent, who is still lodging with the Percivals, is not the best choice for Belinda to marry. Vincent goes out almost every night. Rumors get back to Lady Delacour that Vincent is visiting a local gaming hall, where he has become addicted to EO, a variation of roulette, and been losing increasingly larger sums of money.