The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

Vanity is the perfection of a fop. My husband had this excellence,

that he valued nothing of expense; and as his history, you may be sure,

has very little weight in it, 'tis enough to tell you that in about two

years and a quarter he broke, and was not so happy to get over into the

Mint, but got into a sponging-house, being arrested in an action too

heavy from him to give bail to, so he sent for me to come to him.

It was no surprise to me, for I had foreseen some time that all was

going to wreck, and had been taking care to reserve something if I

could, though it was not much, for myself. But when he sent for me, he

behaved much better than I expected, and told me plainly he had played

the fool, and suffered himself to be surprised, which he might have

prevented; that now he foresaw he could not stand it, and therefore he

would have me go home, and in the night take away everything I had in

the house of any value, and secure it; and after that, he told me that

if I could get away one hundred or two hundred pounds in goods out of

the shop, I should do it; 'only,' says he, 'let me know nothing of it,

neither what you take nor whither you carry it; for as for me,' says

he, 'I am resolved to get out of this house and be gone; and if you

never hear of me more, my dear,' says he, 'I wish you well; I am only

sorry for the injury I have done you.' He said some very handsome

things to me indeed at parting; for I told you he was a gentleman, and

that was all the benefit I had of his being so; that he used me very

handsomely and with good manners upon all occasions, even to the last,

only spent all I had, and left me to rob the creditors for something to

subsist on.

However, I did as he bade me, that you may be sure; and having thus

taken my leave of him, I never saw him more, for he found means to

break out of the bailiff's house that night or the next, and go over

into France, and for the rest of the creditors scrambled for it as well

as they could. How, I knew not, for I could come at no knowledge of

anything, more than this, that he came home about three o'clock in the

morning, caused the rest of his goods to be removed into the Mint, and

the shop to be shut up; and having raised what money he could get

together, he got over, as I said, to France, from whence I had one or

two letters from him, and no more. I did not see him when he came

home, for he having given me such instructions as above, and I having

made the best of my time, I had no more business back again at the

house, not knowing but I might have been stopped there by the

creditors; for a commission of bankrupt being soon after issued, they

might have stopped me by orders from the commissioners. But my

husband, having so dexterously got out of the bailiff's house by

letting himself down in a most desperate manner from almost the top of

the house to the top of another building, and leaping from thence,

which was almost two storeys, and which was enough indeed to have

broken his neck, he came home and got away his goods before the

creditors could come to seize; that is to say, before they could get

out the commission, and be ready to send their officers to take

possession.