The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

I fortified her mind against such a meanness, as I called it; I told

her, that as low as I was in the world, I would have despised a man

that should think I ought to take him upon his own recommendation only,

without having the liberty to inform myself of his fortune and of his

character; also I told her, that as she had a good fortune, she had no

need to stoop to the disaster of the time; that it was enough that the

men could insult us that had but little money to recommend us, but if

she suffered such an affront to pass upon her without resenting it, she

would be rendered low-prized upon all occasions, and would be the

contempt of all the women in that part of the town; that a woman can

never want an opportunity to be revenged of a man that has used her

ill, and that there were ways enough to humble such a fellow as that,

or else certainly women were the most unhappy creatures in the world.

I found she was very well pleased with the discourse, and she told me

seriously that she would be very glad to make him sensible of her just

resentment, and either to bring him on again, or have the satisfaction

of her revenge being as public as possible.

I told her, that if she would take my advice, I would tell her how she

should obtain her wishes in both those things, and that I would engage

I would bring the man to her door again, and make him beg to be let in.

She smiled at that, and soon let me see, that if he came to her door,

her resentment was not so great as to give her leave to let him stand

long there.

However, she listened very willingly to my offer of advice; so I told

her that the first thing she ought to do was a piece of justice to

herself, namely, that whereas she had been told by several people that

he had reported among the ladies that he had left her, and pretended to

give the advantage of the negative to himself, she should take care to

have it well spread among the women--which she could not fail of an

opportunity to do in a neighbourhood so addicted to family news as that

she live in was--that she had inquired into his circumstances, and

found he was not the man as to estate he pretended to be. 'Let them be

told, madam,' said I, 'that you had been well informed that he was not

the man that you expected, and that you thought it was not safe to

meddle with him; that you heard he was of an ill temper, and that he

boasted how he had used the women ill upon many occasions, and that

particularly he was debauched in his morals', etc. The last of which,

indeed, had some truth in it; but at the same time I did not find that

she seemed to like him much the worse for that part.