to follow his order to go to Ireland after him, as soon as he should be settled there; but meeting with an agreeable and advantageous match in that kingdom, he chose the wiser part, and forbore sending for me, but at the same time took care that I should receive a magnificent present, which did not however compensate for all my deep regret on my loss of him.
This event also created a chasm in our little society, which Mrs. Cole, on the foot of her usual caution, was in no haste to fill up: but then it redoubl'd her attention to procure me in the advantages of the traffick for a counterfeit maidenhead, some consolation for the sort of widowhood I had been left in, and this was a scheme she had never lost prospect of, and only waited for a proper person to bring it to bear with.
But I was, it seems, fated to be my own caterer in this, as I had been in my first trial of the market.
I had now pass'd near a month in the enjoyment of all the pleasures of familia-
