conquests. A rich old Wiltshire squire, with a fine heart, as golden as
his guineas, offered to or for her, and was readily accepted. But
'Cecilia,' as she was always called, could not sacrifice herself on the
altar of duty, and she privately told him that though she honoured and
esteemed, she could never love him. The old gentleman proved his worth.
Did he storm? did he hold her to her engagement? did he shackle himself
with a young wife, who would only learn to hate him for his persinacity?
Not a bit of it. He acted with a generosity which should be held up as a
model to all old gentlemen who are wild enough, to fall in love with
girls of sixteen. He knew Mr. Linley, who was delighted with the match,
would be furious if it were broken off. He offered to take on himself
all the blame if the breach, and, to satisfy the angry parent, settled
£1,000 on the daughter. The offer was accepted, and the trial for breach
of promise with which the père Linley had threatened Mr. Long, was of
course withheld. Mr. Long afterwards presented Mrs. Sheridan with
£3,000.

The 'Maid of Bath' was now an heiress as well as a fascinating beauty,
but her face and her voice were the chief enchantments with her ardent
and youthful adorers. The Sheridans had settled in Mead Street, in that
town which is celebrated for its gambling, its scandal, and its
unhealthy situation at the bottom of a natural basin. Well might the
Romans build their baths there: it will take more water than even Bath
supplies to wash out its follies and iniquities. It certainly is strange
how washing and cards go together. One would fancy there were no baths
in Eden, for wherever there are baths, there we find idleness and all
its attendant vices.

The Linleys were soon intimate with the Sheridans, and the Maid of Bath
added to her adorers both Richard and his elder brother Charles; only,