o pay the rent of the house and all the expense of his two sons, and to
tell me how they were taken care of, and where, and also that I might at
all times inspect the usage they had, and if I disliked anything it
should be rectified; and having thus finished everything, he retired
into Lorraine, or somewhere that way, where he had an estate, and I
never heard of him more--I mean, not as a mistress.

Now I was at liberty to go to any part of the world, and take care of my
money myself. The first thing that I resolved to do was to go directly
to England, for there, I thought, being among my country-folks--for I
esteemed myself an Englishwoman, though I was born in France--there, I
say, I thought I could better manage things than in France; at least,
that I would be in less danger of being circumvented and deceived; but
how to get away with such a treasure as I had with me was a difficult
point, and what I was greatly at a loss about.

There was a Dutch merchant in Paris, that was a person of great
reputation for a man of substance and of honesty, but I had no manner of
acquaintance with him, nor did I know how to get acquainted with him, so
as to discover my circumstances to him; but at last I employed my maid
Amy (such I must be allowed to call her, notwithstanding what has been
said of her, because she was in the place of a maid-servant); I say, I
employed my maid Amy to go to him, and she got a recommendation to him
from somebody else, I knew not who, so that she got access to him well
enough.

But now was my case as bad as before, for when I came to him what could
I do? I had money and jewels to a vast value, and I might leave all
those with him; that I might indeed do; and so I might with several
other merchants in Paris, who would give me bills for it, payable at
London; but then I ran a hazard of my money, and I had nobody at London
to send the bills to, and so to stay till I had an account that they
were accepted; for I had not one friend in London that I could have
recourse to, so that indeed I knew not what to do.

In this case I had no remedy but that I must trust somebody, so I sent
Amy to this Dutch merchant, as I said above. He was a little surprised
when Amy came to him and talked to him of remitting a sum of about
twelve thousand pistoles to England, and began to think she came to put
some cheat upon him; but when he found that Amy was but a servant, and
that I came to him myself, the case was altered p