'Tis something of relief even to be undone by a man of
honour, rather than by a scoundrel; but here the greatest
disappointment was on his side, for he had really spent a great deal of
money, deluded by this madam the procuress; and it was very remarkable
on what poor terms he proceeded. First the baseness of the creature
herself is to be observed, who, for the getting #100 herself, could be
content to let him spend three or four more, though perhaps it was all
he had in the world, and more than all; when she had not the least
ground, more than a little tea-table chat, to say that I had any
estate, or was a fortune, or the like. It is true the design of
deluding a woman of fortune, if I had been so, was base enough; the
putting the face of great things upon poor circumstances was a fraud,
and bad enough; but the case a little differed too, and that in his
favour, for he was not a rake that made a trade to delude women, and,
as some have done, get six or seven fortunes after one another, and
then rifle and run away from them; but he was really a gentleman,
unfortunate and low, but had lived well; and though, if I had had a
fortune, I should have been enraged at the slut for betraying me, yet
really for the man, a fortune would not have been ill bestowed on him,
for he was a lovely person indeed, of generous principles, good sense,
and of abundance of good-humour.

We had a great deal of close conversation that night, for we neither of
us slept much; he was as penitent for having put all those cheats upon
me as if it had been felony, and that he was going to execution; he
offered me again every shilling of the money he had about him, and said
he would go into the army and seek the world for more.

I asked him why he would be so unkind to carry me into Ireland, when I
might suppose he could not have subsisted me there. He took me in his
arms. 'My dear,' said he, 'depend upon it, I never designed to go to
Ireland at all, much less to have carried you thither, but came hither
to be out of the observation of the people, who had heard what I
pretended to, and withal, that nobody might ask me for money before I
was furnished to supply them.'

'But where, then,' said I, 'were we to have gone next?'

'Why, my dear,' said he, 'I'll confess the whole scheme to you as I had
laid it; I purposed here to ask you something about your estate, as you
see I did, and when you, as I expected you would, had entered into some
account