e pleasing
conflict. This proposal was highly approved of and at once carried into
effect, to the entire satisfaction of all parties. After this I made
Sir Charles leave us, not wishing that we should be entirely worked out
as I was quite aware poor Laura would be in a sad state if she found
that we were unable to do anything in the way of appeasing her longings
after the excitement she must have undergone while witnessing our
voluptuous proceedings.

As soon as he was gone, Laura made her appearance and scolded us
heartily for having wasted so much of our precious strength and enjoyed
ourselves so completely without her. But as we each contrived to give
her pretty satisfactory proof that we had not spent all our treasures,
we soon put her in a good humour again; especially as Sir Charles was
to leave on the next day, when she would have us all to herself again.

In the course of the day, I easily persuaded Sir Charles to allow me to
take likenesses of us all three in the various attitudes of enjoying
each other, one of which I took care should be sealed up and deposited
where Laura would have it at command in the event of her finding it
necessary to have recourse to it, even if I should not be at hand at
the time. As Sir Charles was obliged after this to be almost constantly
absent, we gave up to him the few nights he occasionally spent at the
Hall, and the remainder were passed with Laura in a constant series of
repetitions of delightful sports which, however agreeable to the
actors, would involve a tiresome repetition were I to detail them.

The only variety was Frank's adventure with Betsy. Having been once
accustomed to indulge his passions, he regretted sadly that the
enjoyment would continue only for so short a period, as Laura and her
Charles were to go abroad immediately on their marriage, and he began
to look about him for some object to console him in her absence. He
soon fixed upon Betsy, but he found it more difficult to obtain her
consent than he had expected. When I joked her on the subject, she
admitted that she liked the boy, but said she was afraid he was too
young to give her much pleasure, while there was a great risk that he
might talk of it and get her into a scrape. Finding that Frank was very
desirous to have her, I agreed to promote his wishes. I had endeavoured
to conceal as much as possible from Betsy my intercourse with Laura,
but she was too quick not to have discovered that there existed