the return of that
gentleman to parliament for the borough of Stafford, to obtain from him
an engagement for our heroine at the theatre-royal Drury Lane, of which
he was at that time proprietor. 'Brevity is the soul of wit,'" said
Crony: "I shall not attempt to enumerate all the parts she played there;
suffice it to say, she was successful, and became a great favourite with
the public. It was here she first attracted the notice of the rich old
banker, who having just discarded another actress, Mrs. M----r, whom
he had kept some time, on account of an intimacy he discovered with
the lady and P----e, the oboe player, he made certain propositions,
accompanied with such liberal presents, that the fair yielded to the
all-powerful influence, not of love, but gold; and having, through the
interference of poor W----, secured to herself a settlement which
made her independent for life, threw out the well-planned story of the
lottery ticket, as a 'tub to the whale': a stratagem that, for some
time, succeeded admirably, until a malicious wag belonging to the
company undertook to solve the riddle of her prosperity, by pretending
to bet a wager of one hundred, that the lady had actually gained twenty
thousand pounds by the lottery, and he would name the ticket: with this
excuse, for what otherwise might have been deemed impertinent, he put
the question, and out of the reply developed the whole affair. All
London now rung with the splendour of her equipage, the extent of her
charities, and the liberality of her conduct to an old actor and a young
female friend, Miss S----n, who was invariably seen with ~311~~her in
public. Such was the notoriety of the intimacy, that the three
married daughters of the banker, all persons of title and the highest
respectability, thought it right to question their father, relative to
the truth of the reports in circulation. Whatever might have been their
apprehensions, their fears were quieted by the information, that the
lady in question was a natural daughter, born previous to the alliance
to which they owed their birth: this assurance not only induced the
parties to admit her to their presence, but she was also introduced
to, and became intimate with, the wife of the man to whom she owes her
present good fortune. It was now, that, feeling herself secure, she
displayed that capricious feeling which has since marked her character:
poor W----r, her mentor and defender, was on some mere pretence
abandone