Shewas，itseems，thewidowofBenington，whomIknewinSpain。ThismanwasanEnglishmerchantsettledatBarcelona，towhomIhadbeencommendedbyLudloe\'sletters，andthroughwhommypecuniarysupplieswerefurnished……Muchintercourseandsomedegreeofintimacyhadtakenplacebetweenus，andIhadgainedaprettyaccurateknowledgeofhischaracter。Ihadbeeninformed，throughdifferentchannels，thathiswifewasmuchhissuperiorinrank，thatshepossessedgreatwealthinherownright，andthatsomedisagreementoftemperorviewsoccasionedtheirseparation。Shehadmarriedhimforlove，andstilldoatedonhim:
theoccasionsforseparationhavingarisen，itseems，notonhersidebutonhis。Ashishabitsofreflectionwerenowisefriendlytoreligion，andashers，accordingtoLudloe，wereoftheoppositekind，itispossiblethatsomejarringhadarisenbetweenthemfromthissource。Indeed，fromsomecasualandbrokenhintsofBenington，especiallyinthelatterpartofhislife，Ihadlongsincegatheredthisconjecture……Something，thoughtI，maybederivedfrommyacquaintancewithherhusbandfavourabletomyviews。
IanxiouslywaitedforanopportunityofacquaintingLudloewithmyresolution。Onthedayofourlastconversation，hehadmadeashortexcursionfromtown，intendingtoreturnthesameevening，buthadcontinuedabsentforseveraldays。Assoonashecameback，Ihastenedtoacquainthimwithmywishes。
Haveyouwellconsideredthismatter，saidhe。Beassureditisofnotrivialimport。Themomentatwhichyouenterthepresenceofthiswomanwilldecideyourfuturedestiny。Evenputtingoutofviewthesubjectofourlateconversations，thelightinwhichyoushallappeartoherwillgreatlyinfluenceyourhappiness，since，thoughyoucannotfailtoloveher，itisquiteuncertainwhatreturnshemaythinkpropertomake。Much，doubtless，willdependonyourownperseveranceandaddress，butyouwillhavemany，perhapsinsuperableobstaclestoencounteronseveralaccounts，andespeciallyinherattachmenttothememoryofherlatehusband。Astoherdevouttemper，thisisnearlyalliedtoawarmimaginationinsomeotherrespects，andwilloperatemuchmoreinfavourofanardentandartfullover，thanagainsthim。
Istillexpressedmywillingnesstotrymyfortunewithher。