But as the devil is an unwearied tempter, so he never fails to find
opportunity for that wickedness he invites to. It was one evening that
I was in the garden, with his two younger sisters and himself, and all
very innocently merry, when he found means to convey a note into my
hand, by which he directed me to understand that he would to-morrow
desire me publicly to go of an errand for him into the town, and that I
should see him somewhere by the way.
Accordingly, after dinner, he very gravely says to me, his sisters
being all by, 'Mrs. Betty, I must ask a favour of you.' 'What's that?'
says his second sister. 'Nay, sister,' says he very gravely, 'if you
can't spare Mrs. Betty to-day, any other time will do.' Yes, they
said, they could spare her well enough, and the sister begged pardon
for asking, which they did but of mere course, without any meaning.
'Well, but, brother,' says the eldest sister, 'you must tell Mrs. Betty
what it is; if it be any private business that we must not hear, you
may call her out. There she is.' 'Why, sister,' says the gentleman
very gravely, 'what do you mean? I only desire her to go into the High
Street' (and then he pulls out a turnover), 'to such a shop'; and then
he tells them a long story of two fine neckcloths he had bid money for,
and he wanted to have me go and make an errand to buy a neck to the
turnover that he showed, to see if they would take my money for the
neckcloths; to bid a shilling more, and haggle with them; and then he
made more errands, and so continued to have such petty business to do,
that I should be sure to stay a good while.
When he had given me my errands, he told them a long story of a visit
he was going to make to a family they all knew, and where was to be
such-and-such gentlemen, and how merry they were to be, and very
formally asks his sisters to go with him, and they as formally excused
themselves, because of company that they had notice was to come and
visit them that afternoon; which, by the way, he had contrived on
purpose.
He had scarce done speaking to them, and giving me my errand, but his
man came up to tell him that Sir W---- H----'s coach stopped at the
door; so he runs down, and comes up again immediately. 'Alas!' says he
aloud, 'there's all my mirth spoiled at once; sir W---- has sent his
coach for me, and desires to speak with me upon some earnest business.'
It seems this Sir W---- was a gentleman who lived about three miles out
of town, to whom he had spoken on purpose the day before, to lend him
his chariot for a particular occasion, and had appointed it to call for
him, as it did, about three o'clock.