Roxana, The Fortunate Mistress Section 05

In which a gentleman, newly returned from London, warmly courts the narrator with gifts and legal assurances of support, persuading her through kindness and circumstance to accept their unconventional union despite her moral scruples. The evening’s gaiety takes a darker turn as the complexities of their situation unsettle them both, culminating in a scene that irrevocably alters the lives and virtues of those involved.