SCENE I.-The Park. ACT I. SIR GEORGE AIRY meeting CHARLES. Cha. Ha! Sir George Airy a birding thus early! what forbidden game roused you so soon? for no lawful occasion could invite a person of your figure abroad, at such unfashionable hours. Sir Geo. There are some men, Charles, whom fortune has left free from inquietudes, who are diligently studious to find out ways and means to make themselves uneasy. Cha. Is it possible that any thing in nature can ruffle the temper of a man whom the four seasons of the year compliment with as many thousand pounds, nay, and a father at rest with his ancestors? Sir Geo. Why, there it is now! a man, that wants money, thinks none can be unhappy that has it; but, my affairs are in such a whimsical posture, that it will require a calculation of my nativity to find if my gold will relieve me or not. Cha. Ha, ha, ha! never consult the stars about that; gold has a power beyond them; gold unlocks the midnight councils; gold outdoes the wind, becalms the ship, or fills her sails; gold is omnipotent below; it makes whole armies fight or fly; it buys even souls; and bribes wretches to betray their country: then, what can thy business be that gold won't serve thee in? Sir Geo. Why, I'm in love. Cha. In love!- -Ha, ha, ha, ha! in love! Ha, ha, ha, ha! with what, prithee? a cheru- avoid that, I shun his house as much as possible. bin? Sir Geo. No; with a woman. Cha. A woman! good. Ha, ha, ha, ha! and gold not help thee? Sir Geo. But, suppose I'm in love with twoCha. Ay, if thou'rt in love with two hundred, gold will fetch them, I warrant thee, boy. But who are they? who are they? come! Sir Geo One is a lady, whose face I never saw; but witty to a miracle; the other, beautiful as Venus Cha. And a fool Sir Geo. For aught I know; for I never spoke to her; but you can inform me. I am charmed by the wit of the one, and die for the beauty of the other. Cha. And, pray, which are you in quest of now? Sir Geo. I prefer the sensual pleasure; I'm for her I've seen, who is thy father's ward, Miranda. Cha. Nay, then, I pity you; for the Jew, my father, will no more part with her and thirty thousand pounds, than he would with a guinea to keep me from starving. Sir Geo. Now, you see gold can't do every thing, Charles. Cha. Yes; for 'tis her gold that bars my father's gate against you. Sir Geo. Why, if he be this avaricious wretch, how cam'st thou by such a liberal education? Cha. Not a souse out of his pocket, I assure you: I had an uncle who defrayed that charge; but, for some little wildness of youth, though he made me his heir, left dad my guardian till I came to years of discretion, which, I presume, the old gentleman will never think 1 am; and now he has got the estate into his clutches, it does me no more good than if it lay in Prester John's dominions. Sir Geo. What! canst thou find no stratagem to redeem it? The report is, he intends to marry her himself. Sir Geo. Can she consent to it? Cha. Yes, faith! so they say: but, I tell you, I am wholly ignorant of the matter. Miranda and I are like two violent members of a contrary party; I can scarce allow her beauty, though all the world does; nor she me civility for that contempt. I fancy she plays the mother-in-law already; and sets the old gentleman on to do mischief. Sir Geo. Then, I have your free consent to get her? be. Cha. Ay; and my helping hand, if occasion Sir Geo. Poh! yonder's a fool coming this way; let's avoid him. Cha. What? Marplot? No, no; he's my instrument; there's a thousand conveniences in him he'll lend me his money, when he has any; run of my errands, and be proud of it; in short, he'll pimp for me, lie for me, drink for me, do any thing but fight for me; and that I trust to my own arm for. Sir Geo. Nay, then, he's to be endured; I never knew his qualifications before. Enter MARPLOT, with a patch cross his face. Mar. Dear Charles, your's-Ha! Sir George Airy! the man in the world I have an ambition to be known to! [Aside.] Give me thy hand, dear boy! Cha. A good assurance! But hark ye, how came your beautiful countenance clouded in the wrong place? Mar. I must confess 'tis a little mal-a-propos; but no matter for that. A word with you, Charles. Prithee, introduce me to sir Georgehe is a man of wit, and I'd give ten guineas to Cha. When you have them, you mean? Cha. I have made many essays to no purpose. Mar. Ay, when I have them; pugh, pox, you Though want, the mistress of invention, still cut the thread of my discourse-I would give tempts me on, yet still the old fox is too cunningten guineas, I say, to be ranked in his acquaintfor me.-I am upon my last project, which, if ance. Well, 'tis a vast addition to a man's forit fails, then, for my last refuge, a brown mus-tune, according to the rout of the world, to be quet. Sir Geo. What is't? can I assist thee? Cha. Not yet; when you can, I have dence enough in you to ask it. seen in the company of leading men; for, then, we are all thought to be politicians, or whigs, or confi-jacks, or highflyers, or lowflyers, or levellers-and so forth; for, you must know, we all herd in parties now. Sir Geo. I am always ready. But what does he intend to do with Miranda? is she to be sold in private, or will he put her up by way of auction, at who bids most? if so, egad I'm for him; my gold, as you say, shall be subservient to my pleasure, Cha. To deal ingenuously with you, sir George, I know very little of her or home; for, since my uncle's death, and my return from travel, I have never been well with my father: he thinks my expences too great, and I, his allowance too little; he never sees me, but he quarrels; and, to Cha. Then, a fool for diversion is out of fashion, I find? Mar. Yes, without it be a mimicking fool; and they are darlings every where. But, prithee, introduce me. Cha. Well, on condition you'll give us a true account how you came by that mourning nose, Į will. Mar. I'll do it. Cha. Sir George, here's a gentleman has a pas sionate desire to kiss your hand, Sir Geo. Oh, I honour men of the sword! And, I presume, this gentleman is lately come from Spain or Portugal-by his scars. Mar. No, really, sir George, mine sprung from civil fury. Happening last night into the groom porter's I had a strong inclination to go ten guineas with a sort of a, sort of a-kind of a milksop, as I thought. A pox of the dice! he flung out, and my pockets being empty, as Charles knows they often are, he proved a surly North Briton, and broke my face for my deficiency. Sir Geo. Ha, ha, ha! and did not you draw? Mar. Draw, sir! Why, I did but lay my hand upon my sword, to make a swift retreat, and he roared out-Now the deel a ma saul, sir, gin ye touch yer steel Ise whip mine through yer wem. | Sir Geo. Ha, ha, ha! Cha. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Safe was the word. So, you walked off, I suppose. Mar. Yes, for I avoid fighting, purely to be serviceable to my friends, you know Sir Geo. Your friends are much obliged to you, sir: I hope you'll rank me in that number. Mar. Sir George, a bow from the side-box, or to be seen in your chariot, binds me ever yours. Sir Geo. Trifles; you may command them, when you please. Cha. Provided he may command you. Sir Geo. No, no; prithee, let me alone to tell the ladies-my parts-Can you convey a letter upon occasion, or deliver a message with an air of business, ha? Mar. With the assurance of a page, and the gravity of a statesman. Sir Geo. You know Miranda? Mar. What! My sister ward? Why, her guardian is mine; we are fellow-sufferers. Ah, he is á covetous, cheating, sanctified, curmudgeon: that sir Francis Gripe is a damned old-hypo critical Cha. Hold, hold; I suppose, friend, you forget that he is my father? Mar. Egad, and so I did, Charles-I ask your pardon, Charles, but it is for your sake I hate him. Well, I say the world is mistaken in him; his out-side piety makes him every man's exccutor, and his inside cunning makes him every heir's gaoler. Egad, Charles, I'm half persuaded that thou'rt some ward, too, and never of his getting -for never were two things so unlike as you and your father; he scrapes up every thing, and thou spendest every thing; every body is indebted to him, and thou art indebted to every body. Cha. You are very free, Mr Marplot. Mar. Aye, I give and take, Charles—you may be as free with me, you know. Sir Geo. A pleasant fellow. Mar. I have always your good word; but if I miscarry, 'tis none of my fault; I follow my instructions. Cha. Yes, witness the merchant's wife. Mar. Nay, Charles, now, don't expose your friend. Cha. Why, you must know, I had lent a certain merchant my hunting horses, and was to have met his wife in his absence. Sending him along with my groom to make the compliment, and to deliver a letter to the lady at the same time; what does he do, but gives the husband the letter, and offers her the horses! Mar. Why, to be sure, I did offer her the horses, and I remember you was even with me, for you denied the letter to be yours, and swore I had a design upon her, which my bones paid for. Cha. Come, sir George, let's walk round, if you are not engaged, for I have sent my man upon a little earnest business, and I have ordered him to bring me the answer into the Park. Mar. Business! and I not know it! Egad I'll watch him. Sir Geo. I must beg your pardon, Charles; I am to meet your father. Cha. My father! Sir Geo. Aye, and about the oddest bargain, perhaps, you ever heard of; but I'll not impart till I know the success. Mar. What can his business be with Sir Francis? Now would I give all the world to know it! Why the devil should not one know every man's concerns? Aside. have Cha, Prosperity to it, whatever it be: private affairs, too: over a bottle, we'll compare notes. Mar. Curst! What's curst, Charles? Cha. Come along with me; my heart feels pleasure at her name. Sir George, your's; we'll Cha. The dog is diverting, sometimes, or there meet at the old place the usual hour. : Mir. It is necessary such a report should be, Patch. Patch. But is it true, madam? Mir. That's not absolutely necessary. Patch. I thought it was only the old strain, coaxing him still for your own, and railing at all the young fellows about town: in my mind, now, you are as ill plagued with your guardian, madam, as my lady is with her father. Mir. No, I have liberty, wench; that she wants: what would she give now to be in this deshabille in the open air, nay more, in pursuit of the young fellow she likes? for that's my case, I assure vou. Patch. As for that, madam, she's even with you; for, though she can't come abroad, we have a way to bring him home in spite of old Argus. Mir. Now, Patch, your opinion of my choice, for here he comes. Ha! my guardian with him! what can be the meaning of this? I'm sure sir Francis can't know me in this dress. Let me observe them. [They withdraw. Patch. Oh, madam, your ladyship cannot imagine what a wretched disappointment we have met with! Just as I had fetched a suit of my clothes for a disguise, comes my old master into his closet, which is right against her chamber door this struck us into a terrible fright-At length I put on a grave face, and asked him if he was at leisure for his chocolate? in hopes to draw him out of his hele; but he snapped my nose off: no, I shall be busy here, these two Sir Fran. Verily, sir George, thou wilt repent hours. At which my poor mistress, seeing no throwing away thy money so; for I tell thee sinway of escape, ordered me to wait on your lady-cerely, Miranda, my charge, does not like a ship with the sad relation. young fellow; they are all vicious, and seldom make good husbands: in sober sadness, she can't abide them. Mir. Unhappy Isabinda! Was ever any thing so unaccountable as the humour of Sir Jealous Traffick? Enter SIR FRANCIS GRIPE and SIR GEORGE Mir. [Peeping.] In sober sadness, you are mistaken-What can this mean? Patch. Oh, madam, it's his living so long in Spain. He vows he'll spend half his estate, but Sir Geo. Look'e, sir Francis; whether she can he'll be a parliament-man, on purpose to bring in or cannot abide young fellows, is not the busia bill for women to wear veils, and other odiousness will you take the fifty guineas? Spanish customs—he swears it is the height of impudence to have a woman seen barefaced, even at church, and scarce believes there's a true begotten child in the city. Mir. Ha, ha, ha! how the old fool torments himself! Suppose he could introduce his rigid rules-does he think we could not match them in contrivance? No, no; let the tyrant man make what laws he will, if there's a woman under the government, I warrant she finds a way to break them. Is his mind set upon the Spaniard for his son-in-law still? Patch. Ave, and he expects him by the next fleet, which drives his daughter to melancholy and despair. But, madam, I find you retain the same gay cheerful spirit you had when I waited on your ladyship. My lady is mighty good-humoured, too; and I have found a way to make sir Jealous believe I am wholly in his interest, when my real design is to serve her; he makes me her gaoler, and I set her at liberty. Mir. I knew thy prolific brain would be of singular service to her, or I had not parted with thee to her father. Patch. But, madam, the report going to marry your guardian! is that you are Sir Fran. In good truth I will not-for I knew thy father; he was a hearty wary man; and I cannot consent that his son should squander away what he saved to no purpose. Mir. [Peeping.] Now, in the name of wonder, what bargain can he be driving about me for fifty guineas? Patch. I wish it be not for the first night's lodging, madam. Sir Geo. Well, sir Francis, since you are so conscientious for my father's sake, then permit me the favour gratis. Mir. [Peeping.] The favour! O' my life I believe 'tis as you said, Patch! Sir Fran. No verily; if thou dost not buy thy experience thou wilt never be wise; therefore, give me a hundred, and try thy fortune. Sir Geo. The scruples arose, I find, from the Mir. [Peeping] As ten to one I shall- Patch. Do't! what, whether you will or no, madam? Sir Geo. Come, to the point; here's the gold; sum up the conditions [SIR FRAN. pulling out a paper.] have you committed against the god of love, that he should revenge them so severely, to stamp husband on your forehead? Sir Geo. For my folly, in having so often met you here, without pursuing the laws of nature, -But I resolve, Mir. [Peeping.] Ay, for Heaven's sake do, for and exercising her commandmy expectation is on the rack! Sir Fran. Well, at your peril be it. Sir Fran. Imprimis, you are to be admitted into my house in order to move your suit to Miranda, for the space of ten minutes, without let or molestation, provided I remain in the same room. Sir Geo. But out of earshot. Sir Fran. Well, well, I don't desire to hear what you say; ha, ha, ha! in consideration I am to have that purse and a hundred guineas. Sir Geo. Take it- [Gives him the purse. Mir. [Peeping.] So! 'tis well it's no worse: I'll fit you both Sir Geo, And this agreement is to be performed to-day. Sir Fran. Ay, ay; the sooner the better. Poor fool! how Miranda and I shall laugh at him!-Well, sir George, ha, ha, ha! take the last sound of your guineas, ha, ha, ha! [Chinks them.] [Exit. Mir. [Peeping.] Sure he does not know I am Miranda. Sir Geo. A very extraordinary bargain I have made truly, if she should be really in love with this old cuff now!--Psha! that's morally impossible.But then, what hopes have I to succeed? I never spoke to her Mir. [Peeping.] Say you so? then I am safe. Sir Geo. What though my tongue never spoke? my eyes said a thousand things, and my hopes flattered me her's answered them. If I'm lucky -If not, it is but a hundred guineas thrown away. [MIRANDA and PATCH come forward. Mir. Upon what, sir George? Sir Geo. Ha! my incognita-upon a woman, madam. Mir. They are the worst things you can deal in, and damage the soonest; your very breath destroys them, and, I fear, you'll never see your return, sir George, ha, ha, ha! Sir Geo. Were they more brittle than china, and dropped to pieces with a touch, every atom of her I have ventured at, if she is but mistress of thy wit, balances ten times the sum. Prithee, let me see thy face! Mir. By no means; that may spoil your opinion of my sense Sir Geo. Rather confirm it, madam. Patch. So, rob the lady of your gallantry, sir. Sir Geo. No, child; a dish of chocolate in the morning never spoils my dinner: the other lady I design å set meal; so there's no danger. Mir. Matrimony! Ha, ha, ha! What crimes ere we part now, to know who you are, where you live, what kind of flesh and blood your face is; therefore, unmask, and don't put me to the trouble of doing it for you. Mir. My face is the same flesh and blood with my hand, sir George, which, if you'll be so rude to provoke Sir Geo. You'll apply it to my cheek—the ladies' favours are always welcome, but I must have that cloud withdrawn.-[Taking hold of her.]-Remember you are in the Park, child; and what a terrible thing would it be to lose this pretty white hand! Mir. And how will it sound in a chocolatehouse, that sir George Airy rudely pulled off a lady's mask, when he had given her his honour that he never would, directly or indirectly, endeavour to know her till she gave him leave? Patch. I wish we were safe out. Sir Geo. But, if that lady thinks fit to pursue, and meet me at every turn, like some troubled spirit, shall I be blamed if I inquire into the reality? I would have nothing dissatisfied in a female shape. Mir. What shall I do? [Pauses. Sir Geo. Aye, prithee, consider; for thou shalt find me very much at thy service. Patch. Suppose, sir, the lady should be in love with you? Sir Geo. Oh! I'll return the obligation in a moment. Patch. And marry her? Sir Geo. Ha, ha, ha! that's not the way to love her, child. Mir. If he discovers me I shall die-Which way shall I escape? Let me see Sir Geo. Well, madam [Pauses. you should Mir. I have it-Sir George, 'tis fit allow something; if you'll excuse my face, and turn your back, (if you look upon me I shall sink, even masked as I am) I will confess why I have engaged you so often, who I am, and where I live. Sir Geo. Well, to shew you I'm a man of ho nour, I accept the conditions: let me but once know those, and the face won't be long a secret to me. Patch. What mean you, madam? Sir Geo. 'Tis something indecent to turn one's back upon a lady; but you command, and I obey. [Turns his back.] Come, madam, begin Mir. First, then, it was my unhappy lot to see you at Paris [Draws back a little way, and speaks.], at a ball upon a birthday; your shape |