And on it goes...

Volume 5 of Clarissa is in the can.  Lovelace's schemes are working on and off and Clarissa, though attracted to him, is wary of him.  On and off he talks about marriage but one or the other of them has reservations every time it is brought up, or the settlements take a long time, or the house they plan to stay at is not ready, etc.  Most of these delays are of Lovelace's making, so that he gives Clarissa the impression that he wants to marry her, but he actually will not.  She sees through his ways about half the time.

This volume really highlighted what a difficult position Clarissa is in.  She has left her family but can't really trust the person she left with.  She really has no good options here.