The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 2 Chapter 90 - part 2

In which our young gentleman, constrained by the narrow circumstances of slender annuities and modest company, finds solace and a modest esteem among a peculiar society of second-hand politicians, minor critics, and witty bachelors, whose indolent yet agreeable habits abide without pressing inquiry. Yet amid convivial discourse and occasional flashes of his superior wit, he contends with the uneasy fracturing of a valued friendship and incurs an unexpected and grievous financial loss through the deceit and flight of an untrustworthy acquaintance.