rdinary danger in the gift, cannot I refuse,
or at least delay to comply with any new conditions from Ludloe? Will
not his candour and his affection for me rather commend than disapprove
my diffidence? In fine, I resolved to see this lady.

She was, it seems, the widow of Benington, whom I knew in Spain. This
man was an English merchant settled at Barcelona, to whom I had been
commended by Ludloe's letters, and through whom my pecuniary supplies
were furnished....... Much intercourse and some degree of intimacy had
taken place between us, and I had gained a pretty accurate knowledge of
his character. I had been informed, through different channels, that his
wife was much his superior in rank, that she possessed great wealth in
her own right, and that some disagreement of temper or views occasioned
their separation. She had married him for love, and still doated on him:
the occasions for separation having arisen, it seems, not on her
side but on his. As his habits of reflection were nowise friendly to
religion, and as hers, according to Ludloe, were of the opposite kind,
it is possible that some jarring had arisen between them from this
source. Indeed, from some casual and broken hints of Benington,
especially in the latter part of his life, I had long since gathered
this conjecture....... Something, thought I, may be derived from my
acquaintance with her husband favourable to my views.

I anxiously waited for an opportunity of acquainting Ludloe with my
resolution. On the day of our last conversation, he had made a short
excursion from town, intending to return the same evening, but had
continued absent for several days. As soon as he came back, I hastened
to acquaint him with my wishes.

Have you well considered this matter, said he. Be assured it is of no
trivial import. The moment at which you enter the presence of this woman
will decide your future destiny. Even putting out of view the subject of
our late conversations, the light in which you shall appear to her will
greatly influence your happiness, since, though you cannot fail to love
her, it is quite uncertain what return she may think proper to make.
Much, doubtless, will depend on your own perseverance and address,
but you will have many, perhaps insuperable obstacles to encounter on
several accounts, and especially in her attachment to the memory of her
late husband. As to her devout temper, this is nearly allied to a warm
imagination in some other respects