Above all, a sense of bashfulness had cast upon her cheek a colour, which, though sufficiently slight, was more than her countenance was used to display; and when the spectators beheld, in the splendour and grace of a rich Oriental dress, her whom they had hitherto been accustomed to see attired only in the most careless manner, they felt the additional charms of surprise and contrast; so that the bursts of applause which were vollied towards the stage, might be said to be addressed to her alone, and to vie in sincerity with those which have been forced from an audience by the most accomplished performer.
"Oh, that puir Lady Penelope!" said honest Mrs.Blower, who, when her scruples against the exhibition were once got over, began to look upon it with particular interest,--"I am really sorry for her puir face, for she gars it work like the sails of John Blower's vesshel in a stiff breeze .-- Oh, Doctor Cacklehen, dinna ye think she wad need, if it were possible, to rin ower her face wi' a gusing iron, just to take the wrunkles out o't ?" "Hush, hush! my good dear Mrs.Blower," said the Doctor; "Lady Penelope is a woman of quality, and my patient, and such people always act charmingly--you must understand there is no hissing at a private theatre--Hem!" "Ye may say what ye like, Doctor, but there is nae fule like an auld fule--To be sure, if she was as young and beautiful as Miss Mowbray--hegh me, and I didna use to think her sae bonny neither--but dress--dress makes an unco difference--That shawl o' hers--I daur say the like o't was ne'er seen in braid Scotland--It will be real Indian, I'se warrant." "Real Indian!" said Mr.Touchwood, in an accent of disdain, which rather disturbed Mrs.Blower's equanimity,--"why, what do you suppose it should be, madam ?" "I dinna ken, sir," said she, edging somewhat nearer the Doctor, not being altogether pleased, as she afterwards allowed, with the outlandish appearance and sharp tone of the traveller; then pulling her own drapery round her shoulders, she added, courageously, "There are braw shawls made at Paisley, that ye will scarce ken frae foreign." "Not know Paisley shawls from Indian, madam ?" said Touchwood; "why, a blind man could tell by the slightest touch of his little finger.

Yon shawl, now, is the handsomest I have seen in Britain--and at this distance I can tell it to be a real _Tozie_." "Cozie may she weel be that wears it," said Mrs.Blower.

"I declare, now I look on't again, it's a perfect beauty." "It is called Tozie, ma'am, not cozie," continued the traveller; "the Shroffs at Surat told me in 1801, that it is made out of the inner coat of a goat." "Of a sheep, sir, I am thinking ye mean, for goats has nae woo'." "Not much of it, indeed, madam, but you are to understand they use only the inmost coat; and then their dyes--that Tozie now will keep its colour while there is a rag of it left--men bequeath them in legacies to their grandchildren." "And a very bonny colour it is," said the dame; "something like a mouse's back, only a thought redder--I wonder what they ca' that colour." "The colour is much admired, madam," said Touchwood, who was now on a favourite topic; "the Mussulmans say the colour is betwixt that of an elephant and the breast of the _faughta_." "In troth, I am as wise as I was," said Mrs.Blower.
"The _faughta_, madam, so called by the Moors, (for the Hindhus call it _hollah_,) is a sort of pigeon, held sacred among the Moslem of India, because they think it dyed its breast in the blood of Ali .-- But I see they are closing the scene .-- Mr.Cargill, are you composing your sermon, my good friend, or what can you be thinking of ?" Mr.Cargill had, during the whole scene, remained with his eyes fixed, in intent and anxious, although almost unconscious gaze, upon Clara Mowbray; and when the voice of his companion startled him out of his reverie, he exclaimed, "Most lovely--most unhappy--yes--I must and will see her!" "See her ?" replied Touchwood, too much accustomed to his friend's singularities to look for much reason or connexion in any thing he said or did; "Why, you shall see her and talk to her too, if that will give you pleasure .-- They say now," he continued, lowering his voice to a whisper, "that this Mowbray is ruined.

I see nothing like it, since he can dress out his sister like a Begum.

Did you ever see such a splendid shawl ?" "Dearly purchased splendour," said Mr.Cargill, with a deep sigh; "I wish that the price be yet fully paid!" "Very likely not," said the traveller; "very likely it's gone to the book; and for the price, I have known a thousand rupees given for such a shawl in the country .-- But hush, hush, we are to have another tune from Nathaniel--faith, and they are withdrawing the screen--Well, they have some mercy--they do not let us wait long between the acts of their follies at least--I love a quick and rattling fire in these vanities--Folly walking a funeral pace, and clinking her bells to the time of a passing knell, makes sad work indeed." A strain of music, beginning slowly, and terminating in a light and wild allegro, introduced on the stage those delightful creatures of the richest imagination that ever teemed with wonders, the Oberon and Titania of Shakspeare.