The History of Miss Betsy ThoughtlessHaywood, Eliza Fowler
General
The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless
Haywood, Eliza Fowler
Abused wives -- Fiction; Bildungsromans; Didactic fiction; England -- Fiction; Married women -- Fiction
'That is a fine child you have in your lap,' said Mr. Trueworth; 'is it
your own?'--'No,' answered she, 'this is a young Londoner.'--'Some
wealthy citizen's, I suppose,' rejoined he. 'No, by my truly, Sir!' said
she; 'it has neither father nor mother, and belike must have gone to the
parish, if a good sweet young lady had not taken pity of it, and given
it to me to nurse; and, would you think it, Sir, is as kind to it, and
pays as punctually for it, as if it were her own. My husband goes up to
London every month to receive the money, and she never lets him come
home without it, and gives him over and above sixpence or a shilling to
drink upon the road: poor man, he loves a sup of good ale dearly, that's
all his fault, though I cannot say he ever neglects his business; he is
up early and down late, and does a power of work for a little money. Sir
Roger Hill will employ nobody but him; and, good reason, because he
makes him take whatever he pleases, and that is little enough, God
knows; for he is a hard man: and if it were not for my nursing, we could
not make both ends meet, as the saying is; but he is our landlord, and
we dare not disoblige him.'
This innocent countrywoman would probably have run on with the whole
detail of her family affairs, if Mr. Trueworth, desirous of turning the
tide of her communicative disposition into a channel more satisfactory
to his curiosity, had not interrupted her.
'This is a very extraordinary charity you have been telling me of,' said
he, 'especially in a young lady: she must certainly be somewhat of kin
to the child.'--'None in the varsal world, Sir,' answered she, 'only her
godmother.' The boy now bringing in the ale, Mr. Trueworth was obliged
to taste it, and testify some sort of approbation, as the good woman had
praised it so much; but he made her drink a hearty draught of it; after
which, 'And pray,' resumed he, 'what is the name of the child?'--'O,
Sir!' replied she, 'the lady has given it her own name, Betsy; she is
called Miss Betsy Thoughtless herself, though she is a woman grown, and
might have had a child or two of her own; but you know, Sir, they are
all called Miss till they are married.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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