 I at length decamped, in good earnest, tho' my heart aked upon the
occasion, because I left him loving and beloved; for his affection was evident,
notwithstanding the step he had taken, by the advice and importunity of all his
relations, who laid a disagreeable restraint upon his inclinations, while they
consulted his interest in every other particular.
    While I halted in the next great town, until I could be supplied with fresh
horses, I was visited by a gentleman who had been formerly intimate with my
lover; but a breach had happened in their friendship, and he now came to
complain of the treatment he had received. Perceiving that I was not in a humour
to listen to his story, he shifted the conversation to my own, and observed,
that I had been extremely ill used. I told him I was of a different opinion:
that it was not only just, but expedient, that a young man of Mr. --'s fortune
should think of making some alliance to strengthen and support the interest of
his family; and that I had nothing to accuse him of but his letting me remain so
long in ignorance of his intention. He then gave me to understand, that I was
still ignorant of a great part of the ill usage I had received, affirming, that
while I lived in his house, he had amused himself with all the common women in
that town, to some of whom this gentleman had personally introduced him.
    At first, I could not believe this imputation; but he supported his
assertions with so many convincing circumstances, that I could no longer doubt
the truth of them; and I felt so much resentment, that my love vanished
immediately into air. Instead of proceeding in my journey to London, I went back
a considerable way, and sent a message, desiring to see him in a little house,
about mid way between his own habitation and the town from whence I came. He
obeyed my summons, and appeared at the place appointed, where I reproached him
with great bitterness. He pleaded guilty to the charge, so far as acknowledging
that he had corresponded with other women lately, in order to get the better of
his affection for me, but the experiment had failed, and he found that he should
be for ever miserable.
    I did not look upon this candid confession as a sufficient atonement for his
past dissimulation, and, in the sharpness of my revenge, demanded a settlement,
which he peremptorily refused; so that, for the present, we held each other in
the utmost contempt. Indeed, I afterwards
