303
form him, that his daughter was on the brink of ruin. That, by the vain and foolish pair, under whose protection he had unfortunately placed her, she had been introduced to society the most contemptible; a gambler of the name of Spurton, and his wife, the kept-mistress of a man of quality; and that these worthless people had betrayed her to a needy adventurer, to whom even her small fortune was a consideration sufficient to tempt him to the darkest deed of villainy, that of sacrificing a young woman's happiness, and a worthy father's peace."
"On reading this letter," continued Mary, "I boldly pronounced it the work of an incendiary, and entreated my father to be comforted, as I could prove it to be, at least, partly false. That the Spurtons are persons of irreproachable character, I can have no doubt, said I. How else could they get into the society of people of rank and fortune? Were he a gambler, and she a woman of doubtful reputation,
