One is tempted to speculate as to what form his greater extravagance during the second half of his time took, but on this point the book is silent.
The apprenticeship ended in the early part of 1703, but John apparently stayed on in the same business for several years afterwards at a weekly wage of £5. That this did not constitute his entire income is clear from a page of his diary, which records: 'Father recd of Jos. Atkins for my rent Dew at Lady Day 1701, 16l. 13s. 00d. taxes being Deducted'; and again, after more references to Jos. Atkins: 'Recd of my tenant in all 64l. 17s. being 2 years rent due att Michaelmas 1703.'
We do not find any references either in the diary or the accounts to the time when the young man began to think of taking to himself a wife, but his income at the high value of money in those days would now be quite sufficiently large to enable him to do so, and some time within the next three years he wooed and won his bride. Of the nature of that wooing one would gladly learn a little more, for even with the help of a decided love-letter written to his mistress within six months of their marriage we cannot divine much. How this letter (probably only one amongst many of a like nature) ever fell again into the hands of its original writer, to be placed by him in the pocket of the little account-book, we are unable to say; but there it is, yellow and stained with age, and worn with much folding and refolding. It is written on the thin, rough, large square note-paper of the period, sealed with a monogram and elaborately addressed on the back:
For Mrs. Lydia Durrant att
Mr. Henry Woodgate's in
Goudhurst
Kent
By Stone Crouch Bag
The letter is so short and so quaint that I transcribe the whole.
I gladly embrace ys first opportunity to tell you dearest Mdm yt I arrived Safe in towne ys evening with a great deal of ease both to my horse & self; The Roads I found much better than by way of Tunbridge & Weather Thanks be to God pretty favourable, My greatest trouble was to think ye nearer I was to my journeys End, yt I was still ye farther from yr Dear Self. Do me so much Justice Mdm as to believe yt it is impossible for me to have any interest or concern nearer my heart then you & I am sorry so great a truth and pure cannot be expressed in other Words then such as sometimes are forced to serve ye profane use of Complements. I wish it were any way in my power & I hope it will 'ere long, to shew ye true affection I have for you & I value myself upon ye opportunity I promise myself of shortly kissing yr hand. I have not mett with father as yett but trust I shall tomorrow morning. Yr letters to Hackney shall be delivered with care and speed. I beg Mrs Woodgate's acceptance of ye oranges designed her ys week by Caryer, I shall rejoice to hear ye little one is come safe to towne & Aunt in a way of recovery but above all to hear of yr good health wch will be an infinite joy. If you did believe or could Imagine how great a refreshment a letter from you would afford me at this melancholy distance you would not faile to write by the first post, & ye hopes I conceive you will do so support me under ye misfortune of yr absence. It is late so adding my humble service to Unkle's & Mr Paris's family with a thousand thanks shall extend this no farther than ye subscribing myself with a most sincere and hearty affection
Mdm yr most humble admirer
John Payne.
March 12th 1705/6 Fetter Lane.
'My greatest trouble was to think the nearer I was to my journeys End, that I was still the farther from your Dear Self'—that is a very prettily turned sentence, and yet with a ring about it which sounds straight from the heart. Throughout the whole letter, indeed, there is a delightful simplicity and homeliness which even the stilted phraseology of the period cannot quite spoil, and which tempts us to think that when the 'melancholy distance' (of some thirty miles) no longer kept the lovers apart, John may possibly have greeted his lady just a little more warmly than with that respectful touch of her hand which was all that epistolary conventions allowed him to propose to himself. At any rate his suit prospered, for in the middle of his pocket-book we come across two pages of diary pure and simple which show us that just five months after his letter the wished-for opportunity of showing his 'true affection' was granted by his marriage with Mistress Lydia Durrant in September of the same year. Immediately following this record of his entrance 'into ye holy state of Matrimony, Sept. 4, 1706,' we have the beginning of his household accounts. On the credit side they run as follows:
Recd Sept. 27th, 1706— £ s. d. 4 weeks money from Shop 20 00 0 5 weeks do. Nov. 2d 25 0 0 Recd Fa[ther] pr. Bror Woodford 20 0 0 Recd Brother Woodford more than layed out 2 11 0 Nov. 16. 2 weeks' money 10 00 0 — 23. 1 week's money 5 0 0 Dec. 7. 2 weeks' money 10 0 0 Jan. 18. 6 weeks' money 30 00 0 Jan. 25. 1 week's money 5 00 0 127 11 0
| Recd Sept. 27th, 1706— | £ | s. | d. |
| 4 weeks money from Shop | 20 | 00 | 0 |
| 5 weeks do. Nov. 2d | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Recd Fa[ther] pr. Bror Woodford | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Recd Brother Woodford more than layed out | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| Nov. 16. 2 weeks' money | 10 | 00 | 0 |
| — 23. 1 week's money | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec. 7. 2 weeks' money | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan. 18. 6 weeks' money | 30 | 00 | 0 |
| Jan. 25. 1 week's money | 5 | 00 | 0 |
| 127 | 11 | 0 |
The debit side is evidently headed by expenses in connection with the wedding, and it would appear that, when John had brought his wife to town, the young couple finished the furnishing of their house together.