A Letter from a Virgin under Restraint to her Lover, &c.
Sir,
I Suppose you are not Ignorant that (since our Loves were discovered, and our Secrets betrayed by the false Confident you trusted with our Affairs) I have been under restraint & narrowly watched by the stri•••• order of my Parents; however least you should have no knowledge of it, and suppose I purposely neglect to meet you in the usual retirement I have not with∣out some difficulty procured this Letter to be commit∣ted to your hands, making it an Ambassador of m•• Constancy and good Affections, not doubting bu•• that it will find you in that Peace and Tranquilli∣ty that I esteem equal with my own, If not Supe∣riour, and had rather suffer than be the occasion of disturbing your quiet— However, as I conceive there is a more than ordinary cause. In brief, am daily pressed, not only by my Parents, but by a new Lover to withdraw my Affections from you, and place them elsewhere; though you need not fear but I am armed against all Perswasions of that kind; nay, even against the most rigorous threats, yet I would not have you so secure, but that you may at least imagine I may be compelled to do that again•• my will, which you may assure your self I will no•• do with it; and so contenting my self in some mea∣sure to have given you this timely notice, and sub∣mitting the rest to your discretion, I remain,
Your Distressed yet Constant Elira.