Then
a pair of vermilion lips, pouting and swelling to the touch,
as if a bee had freshly stung them, seem'd to challenge me
to get the gloves off this lovely sleeper, had not the mod-
esty and respect, which in both sexes are inseparable from
a true passion, check'd my impulses.
But on seeing his shirt-collar unbutton'd, and a bosom
whiter than a drift of snow, the pleasure of considering it
could not bribe me to lengthen it, at the hazard of a health
that began to be my life's concern. Love, that made me
timid, taught me to be tender too. With a trembling hand I
took hold of one of his, and waking his as gently as possi-
ble, he started, and looking, at first a little wildly, said
with a voice that sent its harmonious sound to my heart:
"Pray, child, what o'clock is it?" I told him, and added
that he might catch cold if he slept longer with his breast
open in the cool of the morning air. On this he thanked me
with a sweetness perfectly agreeing with that of his fea-
tures and eyes; the last now broad open, and eagerly sur-
veying me, carried the sprightly fires they sparkled with
directly to my heart.
It seems that having drank too freely before he came
upon the rake with some of his young companions, he had put
himself out of a condition to go through all the weapons
with them, and crown the night with getting a mistress; so
that seeing me in a loose undress, he did not doubt but I
was one of the misses of the house, sent in to repair his
loss of time; but though he seiz'd that notion, and a very
obvious one it was, without hesitation, yet, whether my
figure made a more than ordinary impression on him, or
whether it was natural politeness, he address'd me in a
manner far from rude, tho' still on the foot of one of the
house pliers, come to amuse him; and giving me the first
kiss that I ever relish'd from man in my life, ask'd me it
I could favour him with my company, assuring me that he
would make it worth my while: but had not even new-born
love, that true refiner of lust, oppos'd so sudden a sur-
render, the fear of being surpriz'd by the house was a
sufficient bar to my compliance.
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