For not many hours after his departure, Mr. S* his friend (whom I mentioned before) brought me the following letter, which I will give you in his own words.
My dear Molly,
I AM ſorry our hard fates oblige us to part; but there is no remedy. If I had ſtaid in England, you would have ſtill kept me conſtant; but as it is, you muſt endeavour to make the beſt on’t. I make Mr. S** the bearer, and recommend him to your kindneſs; he will deſerve it: and he brings you the laſt preſent I ſhall be able to ſend you. You have been under a great miſtake in ſuppofing yourſelf my wife. That could not be. Mr. S** will see you right in that affair. I would advise you to send the child you have had to the Foundling Hospital: and if you don’t approve Mr. S**, your beſt way will be to reconcile yourself to your parents. You may make up a good ſtory enough, and lay all the blame on the faithleſs man. Though I hope you will at all times do me the juſtice to own, that if you had not run away with me from your father’s, the reſt could not have followed. You are young, and may yet make your fortune, which will be a pleaſure to me to hear, in the moſt diſtant parts of the world.
I am your former lover,
T. G**.
