2
too much into society for my present situation & state
of mind; & I impatiently look forward to the hour when
I shall be admitted into your delightful retirement.
I long to be made known to your dear little Children,
in whose hearts I shall be very eager to secure an in:
:terest. — I shall soon have occasion for all my for:
:titude, as I am on the point of separation from my
own daughter. The long illness of her dear Father
prevented my paying her that attention which Duty
& affection equally dictated, & I have but too much rea:
:son to fear that the Governess to whose care I con:
:signed her, was unequal to the charge. I have
therefore resolved on placing her at one of the best
Private Schools in Town, where I shall have an op:
:portunity of leaving her myself, in my way to you.
I am determined you see, not to be denied admittance
at Churchhill. It would indeed give me most pain:
:ful sensations to know that it were not in your
power to receive me. — Y^r. most obliged & affec: Sister

S. Vernon. —

4
so; — my dear Creature, I have admitted no one's atten:
:tions but Mainwaring's. I have avoided all general
flirtation whatever, I have distinguished no Creature
besides, of all the numbers resorting hither, except
Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice
in order to detach him from Miss Mainwaring.
But, if the world could know my motive there
they would honour me. — I have been called an un:
:kind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of
maternal affection, it was the advantage of my
Daughter that led me on; & if that Daughter
were not the greatest simpleton on Earth, I might
have been rewarded for my Exertions as I ought. —
Sir James did make proposals to me for Frede:
:rica — but Frederica, who was born to be the
torment of my life, chose to set herself so vio:
:lently against the match that I thought it
better to lay aside the scheme for the present. —
I have more than once repented that I did not

5
marry him myself, & were he but one degree
less contemptibly weak I certainly should, but
I must own myself rather romantic in that re:
:spect, & that Riches only, will not satisfy me.
The event of all this is very provoking. — Sir James
is gone, Maria highly incensed, & M^rs. Mainwaring
insupportably jealous; — so jealous, in short, & so en:
:raged against me, that in the fury of her temper
I should not be surprized at her appealing to her
Guardian if she had the liberty of addressing him —
but there your husband stands my friend, & the
kindest, most amiable action of his life was his
throwing her off forever on her marriage. — Keep up
his resentment therefore I charge you. — We are
now in a sad state; no house was ever more altered;
the whole party are at war, & Mainwaring scarcely
dares speak to me. It is time for me to be gone;
I have therefore determined on leaving them, & shall
spend I hope a comfortable day with you in Town

6
within this week. — If I am as little in favour with
Mr. Johnson as ever, you must come to me at No. 10
Wigmore S^t: — but I hope this may not be the case, for
as Mr. Johnson with all his faults is a man to
whom that great word "Respectable" is always given,
& I am known to be so intimate with his wife, his
slighting me has an awkward Look. — I take
Town in my way to that insupportable spot, a Coun:
:try Village, for I am really going to Churchhill. —
Forgive me, my dear friend, it is my last resource.
Were there another place in England open to me,
I would prefer it. — Charles Vernon is my aversion,
& I am afraid of his wife. — At Churchhill however
I must remain till I have something better in
view. My young Lady accompanies me to Town,
where I shall deposit her under the care of Miss
Summers in Wigmore street, till she becomes a little
more reasonable. She will make good connections there,
as the girls are all of the best Families. — The price is

8
account for her ladyship's conduct. — Langford appeared
so exactly the place for her in every respect, as well from
the elegant & expensive style of living there, as from her
particular attachment to M^rs. Mainwaring, that I was
very far from expecting so speedy a distinction, tho' I
always imagined from her increasing friendship for us
since her husband's death that we should at some fu:
:ture period be obliged to receive her. — M^r. Vernon
I think was a great deal too kind to her, when he was
in Staffordshire. Her behaviour to him, independent
of her general character, has been so inexcusably art:
:ful & ungenerous since our marriage was first in agi:
:tation, that no one less amiable & mild than himself
could have overlooked it all; & tho' as his Brother's
widow & in narrow circumstances it was proper to
render her pecuniary assistance, I cannot help thinking
his pressing invitation to her to visit us at Churchhill
perfectly unnecessary. — Disposed however as he al:
:ways is to think the best of everyone, her display of

9
Grief, & professions of regret, & general resolutions of
prudence were sufficient to soften his heart, & make
him really confide in her sincerity. But as for my:
:self, I am still unconvinced; & plausibly as her
Ladyship has now written, I cannot make up my mind,
till I better understand her real meaning in coming
to us. — You may guess therefore my dear Madam
with what feelings I look forward to her arrival.
She will have occasion for all those attractive Powers
for which she is celebrated, to gain any share of my
regard; & I shall certainly endeavour to guard myself
against their influence, if not accompanied by some:
:thing more substantial. — She expresses a most
eager desire of being acquainted with me, & makes
very gracious mention of my children, but I am
not quite weak enough to suppose a woman who
has behaved with inattention if not with unkindness
to her own child, should be attached to any of mine.

11
it has lately fallen in my way to hear some par:
:ticulars of her conduct at Langford, which prove
that she does not confine herself to that sort of
honest flirtation which satisfies most people, but
aspires to the more delicious gratification of making
a whole family miserable. — By her behaviour to
M^r. Mainwaring, she gave jealousy & wretchedness to his
wife, & by her attentions to a young man previously
attached to M^r. Mainwaring's sister deprived an a:
:miable girl of her Lover. — I learnt all this from
a M^r. Smith now in this neighbourhood — (I have
dined with him at Hurst & Wilford) — who is just
come from Langford, where he was a fortnight in
the house with her Ladyship, & who is therefore
well qualified to make the communication. —
What a Woman she must be! — I long to see her,
& shall certainly accept your kind invitation, that I
may form some idea of those bewitching powers which can
do so much — engaging at the same time & in the

13
Johnson suspected nothing of your engagement the
evening before; it is undoubtedly better to deceive
him entirely;— and since he will be stubborn, he must
be tricked. — I arrived here in safety, & have no
reason to complain of my reception from M^r. Vernon;
but I confess myself not equally satisfied with the
behaviour of his Lady. — She is perfectly well bred indeed,
& has the air of a woman of fashion, but her
manners are not such as can persuade me of her
being prepossessed in my favour. — I wanted her
to be delighted at seeing me. — I was as amiable
as possible on the occasion — but all in vain — She
does not like me. To be sure, when we consider that
I did take some pains to prevent my Brother—in—
law's marrying her, this want of cordiality is not
very surprizing — and yet it shows an illiberal &
vindictive spirit to resent a project which in:
:fluenced me six years ago, and which never suc:
:ceeded at last. — I am sometimes half disposed

14
to repent that I did not let Charles buy Vernon Castle
when we were obliged to sell it, but it was a trying
circumstance, especially as the sale took place exactly
at the time of his marriage — & everybody ought to
respect the delicacy of those feelings, which could not
endure that my Husband's Dignity should be lessened
by his younger brother's having possession of the family
Estate. — Could matters have been so arranged as to pre:
:vent the necessity of our leaving the Castle, could we
have lived with Charles & kept him single, I should
have been very far from persuading my husband to
dispose of it elsewhere; — but Charles was on
the point of marrying Miss De Courcy, & the event
has justified me. Here are children in abundance,
& what benefit could have accrued to me from his
purchasing Vernon? — My having prevented it, may
perhaps have given his wife an unfavourable im:
:pression — but where there is a disposition to dislike

15
a motive will never be wanting; & as to money
matters it has not—with—held him from being very
useful to me. I really have a regard for him, he
is so easily imposed on!
     The house is a good one, the furniture
fashionable, & everything announces plenty & ele:
:gance. Charles is very rich I am sure; when a
Man has once got his name in a Banking House
he rolls in money. But they do not know what to
do with their fortune, keep very little company,
& never go to Town but on business. — We shall
be as stupid as possible. — I mean to win my
Sister in law's heart through her Children; I know
all their names already, & am going to attach myself
with the greatest sensibility to one in particular, a
young Frederic, whom I take on my lap & sigh over
for his dear Uncle's sake. —

Poor Mainwaring! — I need not tell you

17
as Lady Susan.- She is delicately fair, with fine
grey eyes & dark eyelashes; & from her appearance
one would not suppose her more than five & twenty,
tho' she must in fact be ten years older.— I was cer:
:tainly not disposed to admire her, tho' always hearing
she was beautiful; but I cannot help feeling that
she possesses an uncommon union of Symmetry,
Brilliancy & Grace. — Her address to me was so
gentle, frank, & even affectionate, that, if I had not
known how much she has always disliked me
for marrying M[r]. Vernon, & that we had never
met before, I should have imagined her an at:
:tached friend. — One is apt I believe to connect
assurance of manner with coquetry, & to expect
that an impudent address will naturally attend
an impudent mind; — at least I was myself pre:
:pared for an improper degree of confidence in Lady
Susan; but her countenance is absolutely sweet, &

18
her voice & manner winningly mild. — I am sorry
it is so, for what is this but Deceit? — Unfortunately
one knows her too well. — She is clever & agreeable,
has all that knowledge of the world which makes
conversation easy, & talks very well, with a happy
command of language, which is too often used, I believe
to make Black appear White. She has already almost
persuaded me of her being warmly attached to her daugh:
:ter, tho' I have been so long convinced to the contrary.
She speaks of her with so much tenderness & anxiety,
lamenting so bitterly the neglect of her education, which
she represents however as wholly unavoidable, that
I am forced to recollect how many successive springs
her Ladyship spent in Town, while her daughter was
left in Staffordshire to the care of servants, or a
Governess very little better, to prevent my
believing what she says.
     If her manners have so great an influence

19
on my resentful heart, you may judge how much
more strongly they operate on M^r. Vernon's generous
temper. — I wish I could be as well satisfied as
he is, that it was really her choice to leave Lang:
:ford for Churchhill; & if she had not stayed three
months there before she discovered that her friend's
manner of Living did not suit her situation or
feelings, I might have believed that concern for
the loss of such a Husband as M^r. Vernon, to whom
her own behaviour was far from unexceptionable
might for a time make her wish for retirement.
But I cannot forget the length of her visit to
the Mainwarings, & when I reflect on the different
mode of life which she led with them from that
to which she must now submit, I can only sup:
:pose that the wish of establishing her reputation
by following, tho' late, the path of propriety, occa:
:sioned her removal from a family where she must

21
especially as every visit is so many hours deducted
from the grand affair of Education, which I really
wish to be attended to while she remains with
Miss Summers's. — I want her to play & sing with
some portion of Taste & a good deal of assurance,
as she has my hand & arm & a tolerable voice.
I was so much indulged in my infant years that
I was never obliged to attend to anything, & conse:
:quently am without those accomplishments which
are now necessary to finish a pretty woman. Not
that I am an advocate for the prevailing fashion
of acquiring a perfect knowledge in all Languages
Arts & Sciences;— it is throwing time away;— to
be mistress of French, Italian, German, Music,
Singing, Drawing &c., will gain a Woman some
applause, but will not add one Lover to her list.
Grace & Manner after all are of the greatest im:
:portance. I do not mean therefore that Frederica's

22
acquirements should be more than superficial, & I
flatter myself that she will not remain long enough
at school to understand anything thoroughly. I
hope to see her the wife of Sir James within a
twelvemonth. — You know on what I ground my
hope, & it is certainly a good foundation, for school
must be very humiliating to a girl of Frederica's
age; & by the by, you had better not invite her
any more on that account, as I wish her to
find her situation as unpleasant as possible. — I am
sure of Sir James at any time, & could make him
renew his application by a Line. — I shall trouble
you meanwhile to prevent his forming any other
attachment when he comes to Town;— ask him
to your House occasionally, & talk to him about
Frederica that he may not forget her.
     Upon the whole, I commend my own conduct
in this affair extremely, & regard it as a very happy

23
mixture of circumspection & tenderness. Some mo:
:thers would have insisted on their daughter's ac:
:cepting so great an offer on the first overture,
but I could not answer it to myself to force
Frederica into a marriage from which her heart
revolted; & instead of adopting so harsh a mea:
:sure, merely propose to make it her own choice
by rendering her thoroughly uncomfortable till
she does accept him. But enough of this tire:
:some girl. —
     You may well wonder how I contrive to
pass my time here — & for the first week, it was
most insufferably dull. Now however, we begin
to mend; our party is enlarged by M^rs. Vernon's
brother, a handsome young man, who promises
me some amusement. There is something about
him that rather interests me, a sort of sauci:
:ness, of familiarity which I shall teach him to

24
correct. He is lively, & seems clever, & when I have
inspired him with greater respect for me than his
sister's kind offices have implanted, he may be an
agreeable Flirt. — There is exquisite pleasure in sub:
:duing an insolent spirit, in making a person
pre-determined to dislike, acknowledge one's superi:
:ority. — I have disconcerted him already by my calm
reserve, & it shall be my endeavour to humble the
Pride of these self important De Courcys still low:
:er, to convince M^rs. Vernon that her sisterly cau:
:tions have been bestowed in vain, & to persuade
Reginald that she has scandalously belied me.
This project will serve at least to amuse me, &
prevent my feeling so acutely this dreadful sepa:
:ration from you & all whom I love. Adieu.

Yours ever
S. Vernon.