Sentence:  Then lend me your ear—Why last night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were carelessly sliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who should trip by but an <WSD>abbess</WSD>, well known about town, with a smart little nun in her suite. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A woman who runs a brothel; a woman employed by a prostitute to find clients.<ref>(page=3)</ref><ref>(pages=3–4)</ref>