, and desiring my company to the coffee-house, treated me
with tea and chocolate. - I remembered Strutwell, and guarded against his
insinuating behaviour; nor was my suspicion wrong placed; he artfully turned the
discourse upon Narcissa, and endeavoured, by hinting at an intrigue he pretended
to be engaged in elsewhere, to learn what connexion there was between her and
me. - But all his finesse was ineffectual; I was convinced of his dissimulation,
and gave such general answers to his inquiries, that he was forced to drop the
subject and talk of something else.
    While we conversed in this manner, the savage came in, with another
gentleman, who introduced him to his lordship; and he was received with such
peculiar marks of distinction, that I was persuaded the courtier intended to use
him in some shape or another; and thence I conceived an unlucky omen. - But I
had more cause to be dismayed the following day, when I saw the Squire in
company with Melinda and her mother, who honoured me with several disdainful
glances; and when I afterwards threw myself in his way, instead of the cordial
shake of the hand, returned my salute with a cold repetition of »Servant,
servant,« which he pronounced with such indifference, or rather contempt, that
if he had not been Narcissa's brother I should have affronted him in publick.
    These occurrences disturbed me not a little, I foresaw the brooding storm,
and armed myself with resolution for the occasion; but Narcissa being at stake,
I was far from being resigned. - I could have renounced every other comfort of
life with some degree of fortitude; but the prospect of losing her, disabled all
my philosophy, and tortured my soul into madness.
    Miss Williams found me, next morning, full of anxious tumult, which did not
abate, when she told me, that my Lord Quiverwit, having professed honourable
intentions, had been introduced to my lovely Mistress by her brother, who had at
the same time, from the information of Melinda, spoke of me as an Irish
fortune-hunter, without either birth or estate to recommend me; who supported
myself in the appearance of a gentleman by sharping, and other infamous
practices; and who was of such an obscure origin, that I did not even know my
own extraction. - Though I expected all this, I could not hear it with temper,
especially as truth was so blended with falshood in the assertion, that it would
be almost impossible to separate the one from the other in my vindication. - But
I said nothing on this head,
