At the same time he is making bitter complaints of Teresa.

He accused her afterwards (1729) of having an intrigue with a married man, of "striking, pinching, and abusing her mother to the utmost shamefulness." The mother, he thinks, is too meek to resent this tyranny, and Martha, as it appears, refuses to believe the reports against her sister.

Pope audaciously suggests that it would be a good thing if the mother could be induced to retire to a convent, and is anxious to persuade Martha to leave so painful a home.

The same complaints reappear in many letters, but the position remained unaltered.

It is impossible to say with any certainty what may have been the real facts.