hufband, and gave her hand to Mr. Brindley; a man who was apparently in affluent circumftances, and, without doubt, very agreeable to her fancy: his character was alfo, in her opinion, in confequence of the enquiries which she had made relating to it, unquestionable. In a few months after her fecond marriage, and when fhe had vefted her new hufband with all fhe had in her power to give him, fhe not only found herfelf deferted by him; but to her additional concern fhe also found that he had been many years married to another woman:-these were blows which almost ftunned her; but she recovered from them, and did the best she could in her diftressful condition. Obliged to quit the house, in which he could no longer afford to refide, and afhamed of having been drawn in to be a nominal wife, fhe repaired to a very private part of the town, in which she was not, fhe imagined, known; and with the little cafh fhe had by her, fettled herself in a small obfcure apartment. Here fhe in a fhort time difcovered that her landlady' was an arrant procuress: she also found herself fo much in her power that she was not even at liberty to leave her. Oppreffed, therefore, by poverty on one hand, and overcome by perfuafion on the other, fhe complied with Mrs. Subtle's terms of accommodation, and entered into a regular life of proftitution.

Of

.

Of this life fhe was foon heartily tired, and having met with some liberal lovers, fhe paid off all her debts, and removed herself, without making the leaft difcovery of her defigns, to her intended habitation.

In this habitation Mifs Denbigh accidentally became acquainted with her, and being charmed with her converfation and behaviour contracted an intimacy without making any enquiries into her character and connections.

The moment Charlotte difclofed her Paris defign to Mrs. Brindley, fhe greatly approved of it, and the pleasure of her company upon the occafion was not twice requested. Mrs. Brindley, very glad to appear in a new light, in a new place, and with a woman of fortune and reputation, was eafily prevailed upon to bid adieu to her native land. Befides, fhe was not without hopes of turning the fortune of her new friend, to her own advantage, in fome fhape or other. How fhe fucceeded the sequel will fhew. We must now return to the heroine of the piece, for the abovementioned lady is but a fecondary character in it.

Charlotte upon finding that Mrs. Brindley, though she had never been out of England, had picked up a great deal of intelligence with regard

to

to France, confulted her upon every occafion, and was directed by her in all her operations on the other fide of the water.

On their arrival at Paris, a very handsome house was foon hired, and Charlotte made a very fpirited appearance, agreeably to the defign fhe had formed, in order to engage fome of the Frenchmen of rank, to think her an object deferving of their attention.

Mrs. Brindley, the moment fhe discovered her companion's defign, adopted another of a different kind, and, as fhe thought, far more likely to fucceed.

Charlotte being a fine woman, and fufficiently accomplished for a Parifian circle, appeared alfo in the light of a woman of fortune, foon attracted the eyes of feveral men of confequence, encouraged their vifits, and played off all her arts to make a conqueft of the first brilliancy. She was, as fhe expected to be, much admired, followed, and courted; but fhe was not, for fome time, addreffed in the way fhe wifhed by any of those who crowded about her ruelle. She received overtures, however, at last, of a very flattering kind, from a man who appeared to be in every shape qualified to raise her to the sphere of life in which the longed to move.

C

The

The first addrefs which Charlotte received from Count F, was in the garden belonging to a pleasant villa which the occupied a few leagues from the capital. She at first affected no small furprize, and acted her agitation in a very artful manner; but foon recovering from her well counterfeited confufion, fhe gave her flattering lover reafon enough to believe that his propofals would not be rejected-fhe alfo endeavoured to draw him, speedily, into the toils of matrimony. Her endeavours were not unfuccefsful, for he left her with a positive affurance that he would give immediately orders for his nuptial preparations; and added, that as foon as thofe were finifhed, he fhould do himself the higheft of all poffible honor, by waiting on her to his chateau in one of the moft delicious parts of France.

While Charlotte and her Count were in this fituation, and while they imagined they were totally unobferved, they were minutely watched from another quarter of the garden by a young Englishman, of whom it will be now neceffary to give fome account.

The name of this youth was Saunders. He had a very pretty eftate in the weft of England, and was so much in love with Mifs Denbigh, that

upon

upon her rejecting him, he fell into a melancholy ftate, alarming to all those who had any regard for him. To amufe him in this miferable state, and to prevent him from dwelling on the cause of it, his friends hurried him about from one place to another, fhifted the fcene continually, and threw as much novelty in his way as they could, to exclude any difquiet arifing from old recollections; but all their endeavours to make him forget the orly woman for whom he had ever felt the tender paffion, were ineffectual; be ftill loved her to diftraction, and upon hearing that fhe was gone to France, determined to follow her, taking particular care, at the fame time, to conceal his intention from his friends, that he might receive no interruption from their well meant diffuafions. On his arrival at Paris, he made immediate enquiries after the difdainful miftrefs of his heart; and hear. ing that he was then at her country houfe near Paris, repaired to it without delay, in order to renew his addresses, though he had been so often received by her with the moft mortifying coldness. Being told by her companion, Mrs. Brindley, with whose behaviour he was much pleased, but of whofe real character he was utterly ignorant, that fhe was juft ftepped into the garden, he flew into it immediately on the wings of love. To his extreme aftonifhment he beheld her in a