matter with her, and proposed the going in, under the pretence of buying something in the shop, and by that means inquiring into the cause of all this terrible grief. The woman did not seem at all shy of talking to them of her misfortunes; but said, her husband was the most barbarous man in the world. They all began to pity her, and asked if he had beaten or abused her, "No, no," she said, "much worse than that;" she could sooner have forgiven some blows than the cruelty he had been guilty of towards her. At last, with the interruption of many tears, it came out, that all this complaining was for nothing more than that her husband, having received a sum of money, had chosen to pay his debts with it, instead of buying her and her daughter some new clothes, "And sure," said she, "there is neighbour such a one," pointing to a very handsome young woman who sat in a shop opposite to her, "can have everything new as often as she pleases; and I am sure her husband is more in debt than mine. I think a man ought to take care of his own wife and children before he pays his money to strangers," Cynthia could not forbear bursting into a loud laughter when she heard the cause of this tragedy. The woman seeing that, fancied she made sport of her, and turned her melancholy tone into a scolding one. She was not very young, and the wrinkles in her face were filled with drops of water which had fallen from her eyes; which, with the yellowness of her complexion, made a figure not unlike a field in the decline of the year, when harvest is gathered in, and a smart shower of rain has filled the furrows with water. Her voice was so shrill that they all jumped into the coach as fast as they could, and drove from the door.
Cynthia and Valentine talked of this accident in a ridiculous light; but David, in his usual way,
