ABSTRACT
The manager now offered me a regular engagement during the Lancaster Assizes, at a salary somewhat higher than that of Bucks. During all the bustle and agitation in which I had lately lived, I often thought of my pretty Anne, and my highest desire was to have her as the companion of my adventures. Now also, as I could maintain her on the proceeds of my engagement, I became more anxious for her society than ever. Still I could not devise any probable plan to accomplish my wish; for she was now distant from me more than a hundred miles, and could not travel unprotected, even if she should, upon my writing to her, consent to come, of which I was by no means certain. I could not, on the other hand, leave my engagement to go for her, which was the mode I greatly preferred. I was relieved from my embarrassment by the manager complaining to me of his great want of a young female performer; for his wife, who took the leading parts, was in bad health, and frequently unable to perform; and another lady being none of the handsomest, even with all the aids of rouge and pearl-white, 51 could not appear as Juliet or Belvidera 52 without being laughed at and hissed, and was only fit for hoydens and housemaids. I eagerly told him of Anne, whom I described in terms that made him as desirous of having her with us, as I was myself.
