"The following work is offered to the public as a Moral Tale."
Author's introductory note, 1801, p. 3

"'I have sacrificed reputation, happiness - every thing, to the love of frolic. All frolic will soon be at an end with me - I am dying - and I shall die unlamented by any human being.'"
Lady Delacour, Chap. 2, p. 30

"'I can tell you, that nothing is more unlike a novel than real life.'"
Lady Delacour, Chap. 3. p. 36

"'Ambitious of pleasing universally, I became the worst of slaves - a slave to the world.'"
Lady Delacour, Chap. 3, p. 41

"'As to love, you know with me, that is out of the question; all I ask or wish for is admiration.'"
Lady Delacour, Chap. 4, p. 64

"At a distance, lady Delacour had appeared to miss Portman the happiest person in the world; upon a nearer view, she discovered that her...