It was during this period, and while I was squandering thousands to
achieve the conquest of shadows, that I succeeded in fixing an intimacy
with a family equal to my own in station, and superior to it in fortune.
The eldest daughter was an heiress of large expectations, and my
proposals of marriage were favourably received. I might almost say that
Matilda was mine; when one day I received a letter from her father,
peremptorily forbidding my visits. I was thunderstruck. I hastened to
the house, and demanded an explanation. It was given in few words. _I
was referred to my uncle for any information I required_.
This blow struck me down. I had run through my patrimonial estate; but
hoped, by my marriage with Matilda, to repair my shattered fortune.
Three weeks after it was known that the match was broken off, I was
a prisoner for debt in the King's Bench! I breathed no curses upon
the cause of this sudden reverse of fortune, but--I swore revenge, in
silence; and I kept my oath. I languished away six months, a captive
debtor; and then, taking the benefit of the act, I walked forth a
beggar, to prey upon the world at large! I had studied, during that
time, in an admirable school, where I found professors in every art by
which fools are gulled, and knaves foiled with their own weapons. I was
an apt scholar, and returned to the bosom of society, an adept in the
science of _polished depredation_.
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