You seem in the high road, not only to spoil your own wife, but mine too; which it is certainly my affair to prevent.
Say every thing for me to the ladies of your family.
Adieu! Your affectionate
J. Fitzgerald.
LETTER CXCIII.197.
To Captain Fitzgerald.
Bellfield, Sept.Oct. 10.
You are a malicious fellow, Fitzgerald, and I am half inclined to keep the sweet Bell by force; take all the men away if you please, but I cannot bear the loss of a woman, especially of such a woman.
If I was not more a lover than a husband, I am not sure I should not wish to take my revenge.
To make me happy, you must place me in a circle of females, all as pleasing as those now with me, and turn every male creature out of the house.
I am a most intolerable monopolizer of the sex; in short, I have very little relish for any conversation but theirs: I love their sweet prattle beyond all the sense and learning in the world.