The Adventures of Roderick Random

Change of Lodging

Resenting their landlady’s behavior, the narrator and Miss Williams make it their first priority to find another lodging. They remove to their new accommodations the next day, intending to keep themselves as retired as possible until their cure is completed. Once settled in their new habitation, the narrator entreats Miss Williams to finish the story of her life.

Her Story and Reflections

Miss Williams recounts that success in deceiving a judge encouraged her and her directress to practice the same deceit on others, but this proved short-lived as her character became known and her directress abandoned her for some new scheme. She then took lodgings near Charing-Cross at two guineas a week and began entertaining company publicly. When her income proved insufficient for her expenses, she entered into articles with tavern porters who found employment for her in exchange for sharing her profits. She was exposed nightly to mortification, danger, and abuse from drunken and brutal patrons. Her aversion to her profession manifested in her gloomy countenance, disgusting her clients and leading to frequent ill-treatment. She was eventually neglected by the porters and reduced to selling her watch, rings, trinkets, and most of her clothes for support. One evening she was summoned to a tavern where she supped sumptuously with a gentleman dressed like an officer. In the morning, she discovered he had escaped through a window, leaving her to be detained as a thief’s accomplice and committed to Bridewell, where she was mistreated horrifically. She became so overwhelmed with calamity that she attempted suicide by hanging but was prevented by fellow prisoners. Her subsequent fit of madness lasted three days, after which she resolved to starve herself. On the second day of her fast, a former acquaintance named Mrs. Coupler arrived at Bridewell, having also been committed after her coffee-house venture failed. Mrs. Coupler informed Miss Williams that her accuser had been caught and had confessed the theft, clearing her of any involvement. Miss Williams was immediately discharged and subsequently took lodgings with Mrs. Coupler, whose jealousy of Miss Williams’ success eventually ruined her reputation once more. She was again arrested for debt, but a sea-lieutenant generously paid her debt and gave her additional money. When he perished at sea, she found herself in danger of relapsing into necessity and took lodgings elsewhere, assuming the identity of a wealthy heiress in an attempt to entrap a husband.