anchor: Dorcas, faithful to her "young gentlemen," denied strenuously that it could have been John's voice she heard, and 142 resolutely declared, in the teeth of everything, that it was Mr. Inglethorp who had been in the boudoir with her mistress. 
positive: Dorcas fiercely defended the character of her beloved John.
negative: Dorcas was unable to come up with a plausible defense for her lovely little John.