"Shielded by my own obscurity, and by the lapse of years, and a few fictitious names, I do not fear to venture; and will candidly lay before the public what I would not disclose to the most intimate friend."
Chapter 1, pg. 1

"Of six children, my sister Mary and myself were the only two that survived the perils of infancy and early childhood."
Chapter 1, pg. 3

"Disappointed he was; and bitterly, too. It came like a thunder-clap on us all, that the vessel which contained our fortune had been wrecked, and gone to the bottom with all its stores, together with several of the crew, and the unfortunate merchant himself."
Chapter 1, pg. 7

"Though riches had charms, poverty had no terrors for an inexperienced girl like me."
Chapter 1, pg. 7

"I should like to be a governess."
Chapter 1, pg. 14

"And, perhaps, when I did these things again it would be with different...