- nate young Creature: And the People she was
with had not the Goodness to give her any Hint of her Misconduct, and the Waste of her Fortune: On the contrary, they almost turned her Head with their Flatteries, preyed upon her Fortune, and winked at her Irregularities.
She was now a second time with Child: Her Character was pretty severely handled by her Enemies: Mr. L began openly to slight her: And she was now several thousand Pounds in Debt. The Mother and Sisters of her Woman, in whose House she still was, were base enough to whisper the Fault she had been guilty of to all their Acquaintances. Her Story became generally known: She was shunned and neglected by every body; and even Mr. L, who had been the Cause of her Ruin, intirely abandoned her, and boasted openly of the Favours he had received from her.
Miss Groves protested to her Friends, That he had promised her Marriage; but Mr. L constantly denied it, and never scrupled to say, when he was questioned about it, That he found Miss Groves too easy a Conquest to make any Perjury necessary. Her Tenderness, however, for this base Man, was so great, that she never could bear to hear him railed at in her Presence; but would quarrel with the only Friends she had left, if they said any thing to his Disadvantage. As she was now pretty far advanced with Child, she would have retired into the Country; but the bad Condition of her Affairs made her Removal impossible: In this Extremity she had Recourse to her Uncle, a rich Merchant in the City, who, having taken all the necessary Pre-
