Page:Pathetic history of George Barnwell the London apprentice.pdf/8

 bewitching looks and expressions she gradually seduced him.

The morning brought with it a return of compunction, but the voice of Milwood again soothed him into a degree of composure: and his mind was gradually led to suppose the vice unto which he had fallen, as less wicked than it appeared at first; he listened with less pain to the observations of his seducer, as to the necessity of her seeking new apartments in the course of the day, and to his providing her with money, as she could not bear the idea of applying to her friends after what had passed. Everything which she requested was promised by her infatuated victim, who appeared to have sacrificed reason and duty at the shrine of his unhallowed passion; and, before he departed, Milwood promised to leave a note for him at a place which he appointed, informing him of her new place of residence, where she expected him in the evening.

The gentle and affectionate reproaches of the amiable Maria for his absence, and want of attention to herself, revived in his breast the slumbering feelings of penitence and remorse; but they were transient and ungrounded, and her absence destroyed their influence, and left him once more the prey of appetites, which now raged with uncontrolled fury. His attention to business, which until now had been indefatigable and