As he had furnished me very sufficiently with money for the
extraordinary expenses of my lying in, I had everything very handsome
about me, but did not affect to be gay or extravagant neither; besides,
knowing my own circumstances, and knowing the world as I had done, and
that such kind of things do not often last long, I took care to lay up
as much money as I could for a wet day, as I called it; making him
believe it was all spent upon the extraordinary appearance of things in
my lying in.
By this means, and including what he had given me as above, I had at
the end of my lying in about two hundred guineas by me, including also
what was left of my own.
I was brought to bed of a fine boy indeed, and a charming child it was;
and when he heard of it he wrote me a very kind, obliging letter about
it, and then told me, he thought it would look better for me to come
away for London as soon as I was up and well; that he had provided
apartments for me at Hammersmith, as if I came thither only from
London; and that after a little while I should go back to the Bath, and
he would go with me.
I liked this offer very well, and accordingly hired a coach on purpose,
and taking my child, and a wet-nurse to tend and suckle it, and a
maid-servant with me, away I went for London.
He met me at Reading in his own chariot, and taking me into that, left
the servant and the child in the hired coach, and so he brought me to
my new lodgings at Hammersmith; with which I had abundance of reason to
be very well pleased, for they were very handsome rooms, and I was very
well accommodated.
And now I was indeed in the height of what I might call my prosperity,
and I wanted nothing but to be a wife, which, however, could not be in
this case, there was no room for it; and therefore on all occasions I
studied to save what I could, as I have said above, against a time of
scarcity, knowing well enough that such things as these do not always
continue; that men that keep mistresses often change them, grow weary
of them, or jealous of them, or something or other happens to make them
withdraw their bounty; and sometimes the ladies that are thus well used
are not careful by a prudent conduct to preserve the esteem of their
persons, or the nice article of their fidelity, and then they are
justly cast off with contempt.