Her friends are all in arms about her. I dare say I have the
imprecations of the whole fraternity. They may thank themselves in
part, for I always swore revenge for their dislike and coldness towards
me. Had they been politic, they would have conducted more like the
aborigines of the country, who are said to worship the devil out of
fear.
I am afraid I shall be obliged to remove my quarters, for Eliza was so
great a favorite in town that I am looked upon with an evil eye. I
pleaded with her, before we parted last, to forgive my seducing her,
alleged my ardent love, and my inability to possess her in any other
way. "How," said she, "can that be love which destroys its object? But
granting what you say, you have frustrated your own purpose. You have
deprived yourself-of my society, which might have been innocently
enjoyed. You have cut me off from life in the midst of my days. You have
rendered me the reproach of my friends, the disgrace of my family and a
dishonor to virtue and my sex. But I forgive you," added she. "Yes,
Sanford, I forgive you, and sincerely pray for your repentance and
reformation. I hope to be the last wretched female sacrificed by you to
the arts of falsehood and seduction. May my unhappy story serve as a
beacon to warn the American fair of the dangerous tendency and
destructive consequences of associating with men of your character, of
destroying their time and risking their reputation by the practice of
coquetry and its attendant follies.
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