“ ‘Trust not to such foresight? A loving woman constitutes her own, and her lover’s happiness: but this part is not suited to all women.’

“ ‘Faith, my dear, it is suited to none: for all, who attempt it, are sufferers. What advantage is there in fixing to one?’

“ ‘A thousand, a woman, who fixes her affections, will preserve her reputation; will be sovereignly esteemed by the man she loves; and you cannot imagine, how much love owes to esteem.’

“ ‘I do not comprehend your meaning, you make a jumble of reputation, love, esteem, and I can’t tell what besides. Would you be understood, that inconstancy must dishonour a woman? How, I take a man, and find he does not answer my expectations: I take another, and am still disappointed: I change him for a third, who does not turn out a jot better: and because I have had the misfortune to make a score of wrong choices, instead of pitying me, you would⁠—’