I now also had an opportunity, which I did
not let slip, of paying Lord W--'s debts from my privy purse; and on
that score received the thanks of his elder brother, who, though
he had undertaken to discharge them, delayed the execution of
his purpose longer than I thought they should remain unpaid. This
uncommon splendour attracted the eyes and envy of my competitors,
who were the more implacable in their resentments, because,
notwithstanding my marriage, I was as much as ever followed by the
men of gallantry and pleasure, among whom it is a constant maxim,
that a woman never withholds her affections from her husband,
without an intention to bestow them somewhere else. I never appeared
without a train of admirers, and my house in the country was always
crowded with gay young men of quality.
"Among those who cultivated my good graces with the greatest skill
and assiduity, were the Earl C-- and Mr. S---, brother to Lord
F--. The former of whom, in the course of his addresses, treated
me with an entertainment of surprising magnificence, disposed into
a dinner, supper, and ball, to which I, at his desire, invited
eleven ladies, whom he paired with the like number of his own sex;
so that the whole company amounted to twenty-four.
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