A widow's refusal of a lover is seldom so explicit as to exclude hope.

When the gentleman died a few years later Richardson lost a potential patron which delayed his ability to pursue his own writing career. Early career
The elder Richardson originally wanted his son to become a clergyman but he was not able to afford the education that the younger Richardson would require so he let his son pick his own profession. It was soon considered Richardson's "masterpiece" his greatest work and was rapidly translated into French in part or in full for instance by the abbé Antoine François Prévost as well as into German.

His name was on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum a list establiSamuel Richardsond by the pope containing the names of books that Catholics were not allowed to read. He knew leading figures in 18th century England including Samuel Johnson and Sarah Fielding. Although with his second wife he had four daughters who lived to become adults they had no male heir to continue running the printing business.