we had parted beds for the second time; and, that I might
no longer be exposed to such disagreeable persecutions, I resolved to
leave him, though at the hazard of my life.

"Thus determined, I went to the British ambassador, in a hackney-coach;
and, in order to disguise my youth, which might have prepossessed him
against my judgment, muffled myself up in a black hood, which, as he
said, instead of lending an air of gravity to my countenance, added a
wildness to my looks, which was far from being disagreeable. He had
been a gallant man in his youth, and even then, though well stricken
in years, was not insensible to the power of beauty. This disposition,
perhaps, rendered him more favourable to my cause, though he first
advised me to return to my husband; but finding me obstinate, he
undertook to serve me in my own way, and procured a protection from the
French king, by virtue of which I could live at Paris unmolested by my
lord. Nevertheless, he advised me, if I was determined to leave him, to
make the best of my way to England and sue for a divorce. I relished his
opinion, and concealed myself about three days in Paris, during which I
borrowed some linen; for, as it was impossible to convey anything out
of my own house without suspicion, I had neither clothes for my
accommodation, nor a servant to wait on me.

"In this solitary condition, I took the road to Flanders, after I had
put my lord upon a wrong scent, by writing a letter to him, dated at
Calais, and travelled through an unknown country, without any other
attendant than the postillion, being subjected to this inconvenience by
the laws of France, which are so severe in some particulars, that, if
any person had been apprehended with me, he would have suffered death
for going off with a man's wife; though any man might go to bed with
that same woman, without fear of incurring any legal punishment.

"I proceeded night and day without intermission, that I might the sooner
reach Flanders, where I knew I should be safe; and as the nights were
excessively cold, I was fain to wrap myself up in flannel, which
I bought for the purpose, as I had no clothes to keep me warm, and
travelled in an open chaise. While we passed through dreary woods, quite
remote from the habitations of men, I was not without apprehension of
being stripped and murdered by the postillion; and, in all probability,
owed my safety to the indigence of my appearance, which might also
protect me in tw