Thoroughwood concealed at first from his Master, tho' not without some inward uneasiness.
In the fourth years service, our youae spark, who was an only child, heir to a pretty fortune, gave further proofs of his vicious turn of mind, and frequently launched into follies and debaucheries of a more henious nature; for now he made no scruple of absenting himself from Church on the Lord's day; always staid out late when he knew his Master was engaged in company, and at such times very rarely returned home sober; nay, he had sometimes the assurance to lie out of his Master's house all night. In order to deter him from pursuing this wicked course of life, Mr Thoroughgood threatened to inform his Master of his scandalous behaviour and to ⟨acquaint⟩ his parents of his misconduct. ⟨But alas!⟩ all these menaces proved ineffectual, and instead of working out of his reformation, served only to heighten his resentment, and to raise daily squabbles and animosities between them. Hereupon
