elling and its
furniture was hers, as far a rigid jurisprudence would permit. To
prescribe her expenses and govern her family was the province of her
guardian.

"You have heard the tale of my anguish and despair. Whence did they flow
but from the frustration of schemes projected for her benefit, as they
were executed with her money and by means which the authority of her
guardian fully justified? Why have I encountered this contagious
atmosphere, and explored my way, like a thief, to this recess, but with
a view to rescue her from poverty and restore to her her own?

"Your scruples are ridiculous and criminal. I treat them with less
severity, because your youth is raw and your conceptions crude. But if,
after this proof of the justice of my claim, you hesitate to restore the
money, I shall treat you as a robber, who has plundered my cabinet and
refused to refund his spoil."

These reasonings were powerful and new. I was acquainted with the rights
of guardianship. Welbeck had, in some respects, acted as the friend of
this lady. To vest himself with this office was the conduct which her
youth and helplessness prescribed to her friend. His title to this
money, as her guardian, could not be denied.

But how was this statement compatible with former representations? No
mention had then been made of guardianship. By thus acting, he would
have thwarted all his schemes for winning the esteem of mankind and
fostering the belief which the world entertained of his opulence and
independence.

I was thrown, by these thoughts, into considerable perplexity. If his
statement were true, his claim to this money was established; but I
questioned its truth. To intimate my doubts of his veracity would be to
provoke abhorrence and outrage.

His last insinuation was peculiarly momentous. Suppose him the
fraudulent possessor of this money: shall I be justified in taking it
away by violence under pretence of restoring it to the genuine
proprietor, who, for aught I know, may be dead, or with whom, at least,
I may never procure a meeting? But will not my behaviour on this
occasion be deemed illicit? I entered Welbeck's habitation at midnight,
proceeded to his closet, possessed myself of portable property, and
retired unobserved. Is not guilt imputable to an action like this?

Welbeck waited with impatience for a conclusion to my pause. My
perplexity and indecision did not abate, and my silence continued. At
length, he repeated his demand