Ifortifiedhermindagainstsuchameanness，asIcalledit；I
toldher，thataslowasIwasintheworld，Iwouldhave
despisedamanthatshouldthinkIoughttotakehimuponhis
ownrecommendationonly，withouthavingthelibertyto
informmyselfofhisfortuneandofhischaracter；alsoItold
her，thatasshehadagoodfortune，shehadnoneedtostoop
tothedisasterofthetime；thatitwasenoughthatthemen
couldinsultusthathadbutlittlemoneytorecommendus，but
ifshesufferedsuchanaffronttopassuponherwithoutresenting
it，shewouldberenderedlow-prizeduponalloccasions，and
wouldbethecontemptofallthewomeninthatpartofthetown；
thatawomancanneverwantanopportunitytoberevenged
ofamanthathasusedherill，andthattherewerewaysenough
tohumblesuchafellowasthat，orelsecertainlywomenwere
themostunhappycreaturesintheworld。
Ifoundshewasverywellpleasedwiththediscourse，andshe
toldmeseriouslythatshewouldbeverygladtomakehim
sensibleofherjustresentment，andeithertobringhimonagain，
orhavethesatisfactionofherrevengebeingaspublicaspossible。
Itoldher，thatifshewouldtakemyadvice，Iwouldtellher
howsheshouldobtainherwishesinboththosethings，and
thatIwouldengageIwouldbringthemantoherdooragain，
andmakehimbegtobeletin。
Shesmiledatthat，andsoon
letmesee，thatifhecametoherdoor，herresentmentwas
notsogreatastogiveherleavetolethimstandlongthere。
However，shelistenedverywillinglytomyofferofadvice；
soItoldherthatthefirstthingsheoughttodowasapiece
ofjusticetoherself，namely，thatwhereasshehadbeentold
byseveralpeoplethathehadreportedamongtheladiesthat
hehadlefther，andpretendedtogivetheadvantageofthe
negativetohimself，sheshouldtakecaretohaveitwellspread
amongthewomen——whichshecouldnotfailofanopportunity
todoinaneighbourhoodsoaddictedtofamilynewsasthat
sheliveinwas——thatshehadinquiredintohiscircumstances，
andfoundhewasnotthemanastoestatehepretendedtobe。
’Letthembetold，madam，’saidI，’thatyouhadbeenwell
informedthathewasnotthemanthatyouexpected，andthat
youthoughtitwasnotsafetomeddlewithhim；thatyouheard
hewasofanilltemper，andthatheboastedhowhehadused
thewomenilluponmanyoccasions，andthatparticularlyhe
wasdebauchedinhismorals’，etc。
Thelastofwhich，indeed，
hadsometruthinit；butatthesametimeIdidnotfindthat
sheseemedtolikehimmuchtheworseforthatpart。
AsIhadputthisintoherhead，shecamemostreadilyintoit。
Immediatelyshewenttoworktofindinstruments，andshe
hadverylittledifficultyinthesearch，fortellingherstoryin
generaltoacoupleofgossipsintheneighbourhood，itwasthe
chatofthetea-tablealloverthatpartofthetown，andImet
withitwhereverIvisited；also，asitwasknownthatIwas
acquaintedwiththeyoungladyherself，myopinionwasasked
veryoften，andIconfirmeditwithallthenecessaryaggravations，
andsetouthischaracterintheblackestcolours；butthenasa
pieceofsecretintelligence，Iadded，aswhattheothergossips
knewnothingof，viz。thatIhadheardhewasinverybad
circumstances；thathewasunderanecessityofafortuneto
supporthisinterestwiththeownersoftheshiphecommanded；
thathisownpartwasnotpaidfor，andifitwasnotpaidquickly，
hisownerswouldputhimoutoftheship，andhischiefmate
waslikelytocommandit，whoofferedtobuythatpartwhich
thecaptainhadpromisedtotake。
Iadded，forIconfessIwasheartilypiquedattherogue，asI
calledhim，thatIhadheardarumour，too，thathehadawife
aliveatPlymouth，andanotherintheWestIndies，athingwhich
theyallknewwasnotveryuncommonforsuchkindofgentlemen。
Thisworkedaswebothdesireit，forpresentlytheyounglady
nextdoor，whohadafatherandmotherthatgovernedboth
herandherfortune，wasshutup，andherfatherforbidhimthe
house。
Alsoinoneplacemorewherehewent，thewomanhad
thecourage，howeverstrangeitwas，tosayNo；andhecould
trynowherebuthewasreproachedwithhispride，andthathe
pretendednottogivethewomenleavetoinquireintohis
character，andthelike。
Well，bythistimehebegantobesensibleofhismistake；and
havingalarmedallthewomenonthatsideofthewater，he
wentovertoRatcliff，andgotaccesstosomeoftheladies
there；butthoughtheyoungwomentheretoowere，according
tothefateoftheday，prettywillingtobeasked，yetsuchwas
hisill-luck，thathischaracterfollowedhimoverthewaterand
hisgoodnamewasmuchthesamethereasitwasonourside；
sothatthoughhemighthavehadwivesenough，yetitdidnot
happenamongthewomenthathadgoodfortunes，whichwas
whathewanted。
Butthiswasnotall；sheveryingeniouslymanagedanother
thingherself，forshegotayounggentleman，whoasarelation，
andwasindeedamarriedman，tocomeandvisithertwoor
threetimesaweekinaveryfinechariotandgoodliveries，and
hertwoagents，andIalso，presentlyspreadareportallover，
thatthisgentlemancametocourther；thathewasagentleman
ofa#1000ayear，andthathewasfalleninlovewithher，and
thatshewasgoingtoheraunt’sinthecity，becauseitwas
inconvenientforthegentlemantocometoherwithhiscoach
inRedriff，thestreetsbeingsonarrowanddifficult。
Thistookimmediately。
Thecaptainwaslaughedatinall
companies，andwasreadytohanghimself。
Hetriedallthe
wayspossibletocomeatheragain，andwrotethemost
passionateletterstoherintheworld，excusinghisformer
rashness；andinshort，bygreatapplication，obtainedleaveto
waitonheragain，ashesaid，toclearhisreputation。
Atthismeetingshehadherfullrevengeofhim；forshetold
himshewonderedwhathetookhertobe，thatsheshould
admitanymantoatreatyofsomuchconsequenceasthatto
marriage，withoutinquiringverywellintohiscircumstances；
thatifhethoughtshewastobehuffedintowedlock，andthat
shewasinthesamecircumstanceswhichherneighboursmight
bein，viz。totakeupwiththefirstgoodChristianthatcame，
hewasmistaken；that，inaword，hischaracterwasreallybad，
orhewasveryillbeholdentohisneighbours；andthatunless
hecouldclearupsomepoints，inwhichshehadjustlybeen
prejudiced，shehadnomoretosaytohim，buttodoherself
justice，andgivehimthesatisfactionofknowingthatshewas
notafraidtosayNo，eithertohimoranymanelse。
Withthatshetoldhimwhatshehadheard，orratherraised
herselfbymymeans，ofhischaracter；hisnothavingpaidfor
theparthepretendedtoownoftheshiphecommanded；of
theresolutionofhisownerstoputhimoutofthecommand，
andtoputhismateinhisstead；andofthescandalraisedon
hismorals；hishavingbeenreproachedwithsuch-and-such
women，andhavingawifeatPlymouthandintheWestIndies，
andthelike；andsheaskedhimwhetherhecoulddenythatshe
hadgoodreason，ifthesethingswerenotclearedup，torefuse
him，andinthemeantimetoinsistuponhavingsatisfactionin
pointstosignificantastheywere。
Hewassoconfoundedatherdiscoursethathecouldnot
answeraword，andshealmostbegantobelievethatallwas
true，byhisdisorder，thoughatthesametimesheknewthat
shehadbeentheraiserofallthosereportsherself。
Aftersometimeherecoveredhimselfalittle，andfromthat
timebecamethemosthumble，themostmodest，andmost
importunatemanaliveinhiscourtship。
Shecarriedherjestonagreatway。
Sheaskedhim，ifhe
thoughtshewassoatherlastshiftthatshecouldoroughtto
bearsuchtreatment，andifhedidnotseethatshedidnot
wantthosewhothoughtitworththeirwhiletocomefarther
toherthanhedid；meaningthegentlemanwhomshehad
broughttovisitherbywayofsham。
Shebroughthimbythesetrickstosubmittoallpossible
measurestosatisfyher，aswellofhiscircumstancesasofhis
behaviour。
Hebroughtherundeniableevidenceofhishaving
paidforhispartoftheship；hebroughthercertificatesfrom
hisowners，thatthereportoftheirintendingtoremovehim
fromthecommandoftheshipandputhischiefmateinwas
falseandgroundless；inshort，hewasquitethereverseofwhat
hewasbefore。
ThusIconvincedher，thatifthemenmadetheiradvantage
ofoursexintheaffairofmarriage，uponthesuppositionof
therebeingsuchchoicetobehad，andofthewomenbeing
soeasy，itwasonlyowingtothis，thatthewomenwanted
couragetomaintaintheirgroundandtoplaytheirpart；and
that，accordingtomyLordRochester，
’Awoman’sne’ersoruinedbutshecan
Revengeherselfonherundoer，Man。’
Afterthesethingsthisyoungladyplayedherpartsowell，that
thoughsheresolvedtohavehim，andthatindeedhavinghim
wasthemainbentofherdesign，yetshemadehisobtaining
herbetohimthemostdifficultthingintheworld；andthisshe
did，notbyahaughtyreservedcarriage，butbyajustpolicy，
turningthetablesuponhim，andplayingbackuponhimhis
owngame；forashepretended，byakindofloftycarriage，to
placehimselfabovetheoccasionofacharacter，andtomake
inquiringintohischaracterakindofanaffronttohim，she
brokewithhimuponthatsubject，andatthesametimethat
shemakehimsubmittoallpossibleinquiryafterhisaffairs，
sheapparentlyshutthedooragainsthislookingintoherown。
Itwasenoughtohimtoobtainherforawife。
Astowhat
shehad，shetoldhimplainly，thatasheknewhercircumstances，
itwasbutjustsheshouldknowhis；andthoughatthesame
timehehadonlyknownhercircumstancesbycommonfame，
yethehadmadesomanyprotestationsofhispassionforher，
thathecouldasknomorebutherhandtohisgrandrequest，
andthelikerambleaccordingtothecustomoflovers。
Inshort，
helefthimselfnoroomtoaskanymorequestionsabouther
estate，andshetooktheadvantageofitlikeaprudentwoman，
forsheplacedpartofherfortunesointrustees，withoutletting
himknowanythingofit，thatitwasquiteoutofhisreach，and
madehimbeverywellcontentwiththerest。
Itistrueshewasprettywellbesides，thatistosay，shehad
aboutinmoney，whichshegavehim；andtheother，
aftersometime，shebroughttolightasaperquisitetoherself，
whichhewastoacceptasamightyfavour，seeingthoughit
wasnottobehis，itmighteasehiminthearticleofherparticular
expenses；andImustadd，thatbythisconductthegentleman
himselfbecamenotonlythemorehumbleinhisapplications
tohertoobtainher，butalsowasmuchthemoreanobliging
husbandtoherwhenhehadher。
Icannotbutremindtheladies。
