Our landlady, Mrs. Jones, came frequently up to my
apartment, from whence I never stirr'd on any pretext with-
out Charles; nor was it long before she worm'd out, without
much art, the secret of our having cheated the church of a
ceremony, and, in course, of the terms we liv'd together
upon; a circumstance which far from displeas'd her, con-
sidering the designs she had upon me, and which, alas! she
will, too soon, have room to carry into execution. But in
the mean time, her own experience of life let her see that
any attempt, however indirect or disguis'd to divert or
break, at least presently, so strong a cement of hearts as
ours was, could only end in losing two lodgers, of whom
she made very competent advantages, if either of us came
to smoke her commission; for a commission she had from one
of her customers, either to debauch, or get me away from
my keeper at any rate.
But the barbarity of my fate soon sav'd her the task
of disuniting us. I had now been eleven months with this
life of my life, which had passed in one continu'd rapid
stream of delight: but nothing so violent was ever made to
last. I was about three months gone with child by him, a
circumstance which would have added to his tenderness had
he ever left me room to believe it could receive an addi-
tion, when the mortal, the unexpected blow of separation
fell upon us.
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