feeling is so exquisitely critical, as I then experienced by
its instant taking fire upon the touch, and glowing with a strange
tickling heat: there he pleased himself and me, by feeling, till growing
a little too bold with me, he hurt me, and made me complain. Then he
took my hand, which he guided, not unwillingly on my side, between the
twist of his closed thighs, which were extremely warm; there he lodged
and pressed it, till raising it by degrees, he made me feel the proud
distinction of his sex from mine. I was frightened at the novelty,
and drew back my hand; yet, pressed and spurred on by sensations of a
strange pleasure, I could not help asking him what that was for? He
told me he would shew me if I would let him; and without waiting for
my answer, which he prevented by stopping my mouth with kisses I was
far from disrelishing, he got upon me, and inserting one of his thighs
between mine, opened them so as to make way for himself, and fixed me to
his purpose; whilst I was so much out of my usual sense, so subdued
by the present power of a new one, that, between far and desire, I lay
utter passive, till the piercing pain rouzed and made me cry out. But
it was too late: he was too firm fixed in the saddle for me to compass
flinging him, with all the struggles I could use, some of which only
served to further his point, and at length an irresistible thrust
murdered at once my maidenhead, and almost me. I now lay a bleeding
witness of the necessity imposed on our sex, to gather the first honey
off the thorns.

"But the pleasure rising as the pain subsided, I was soon reconciled to
fresh trials, and before morning, nothing on earth could be dearer to me
than this rifler of my virgin sweets: he was every thing to me now.

"How we agreed to join fortunes: how we came up to town together, where
we lived some time, till necessity-parted us, and drove me into this
course of life, to which I had been long ago bettered and torn to pieces
before I came to this age, as much through my easiness, as through
inclination, had it not been for my finding refuge in this house: these
are all circumstances which pass the mark I proposed, so that here my
narrative ends."

In the order of our sitting, it was Harriet's turn to go on. Amongst
all the beauties of our sex, that I had before, or have since seen, few
indeed were the forms that could dispute excellence with her's; it was
not delicate, but delicacy itself incarnate, such was