The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

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.