I am now, Sir, going to visit a family, where, if you please, I will have the honour of introducing you.
Mr.Manly's ward, Miss Letitia, is a young lady of immense fortune; and his niece, Miss Charlotte Manly, is a young lady of great sprightliness and beauty.
MANLY
That gentleman, Sir, is my uncle, and Miss Manly my sister.
DIMPLE
The devil she is! [Aside.] Miss Manly your sister, Sir? I rejoice to hear it, and feel a double pleasure in being known to you.--Plague on him! I wish he was at Boston again, with all my soul.[Aside.]
MANLY
Come, Sir, will you go?
DIMPLE
I will follow you in a moment, Sir.[Exit Manly.]
Plague on it! this is unlucky.A fighting brother is a cursed appendage to a fine girl.Egad! I just stopped in time; had he not discovered himself, in two minutes more I should have told him how well Iwas with his sister.Indeed, I cannot see the satisfac-tion of an intrigue, if one can't have the pleasure of communicating it to our friends.[Exit.
END OF THE THIRD ACT.
ACT IV.SCENE I.
CHARLOTTE'S Apartment.
CHARLOTTE leading in MARIA.
CHARLOTTE
THIS is so kind, my sweet friend, to come to see me at this moment.I declare, if I were going to be married in a few days, as you are, I should scarce have found time to visit my friends.
MARIA
Do you think, then, that there is an impropriety in it?--How should you dispose of your time?
CHARLOTTE
Why, I should be shut up in my chamber; and my head would so run upon--upon--upon the solemn ceremony that I was to pass through!--I declare, it would take me above two hours merely to learn that little monosyllable--Yes.Ah! my dear, your senti-mental imagination does not conceive what that little tiny word implies.
MARIA
Spare me your raillery, my sweet friend; I should love your agreeable vivacity at any other time.
CHARLOTTE
Why, this is the very time to amuse you.You grieve me to see you look so unhappy.
MARIA
Have I not reason to look so?
CHARLOTTE
What new grief distresses you?
MARIA
Oh! how sweet it is, when the heart is borne down with misfortune, to recline and repose on the bosom of friendship! Heaven knows that, although it is im-proper for a young lady to praise a gentleman, yet Ihave ever concealed Mr.Dimple's foibles, and spoke of him as of one whose reputation I expected would be linked with mine; but his late conduct towards me has turned my coolness into contempt.He behaves as if he meant to insult and disgust me; whilst my father, in the last conversation on the subject of our marriage, spoke of it as a matter which lay near his heart, and in which he would not bear contradiction.
CHARLOTTE
This works well; oh! the generous Dimple.I'll endeavour to excite her to discharge him.[Aside.]
But, my dear friend, your happiness depends on your-self.Why don't you discard him? Though the match has been of long standing, I would not be forced to make myself miserable: no parent in the world should oblige me to marry the man I did not like.
MARIA
Oh! my dear, you never lived with your parents, and do not know what influence a father's frowns have upon a daughter's heart.Besides, what have I to alledge against Mr.Dimple, to justify myself to the world? He carries himself so smoothly, that every one would impute the blame to me, and call me capri-cious.
CHARLOTTE
And call her capricious! Did ever such an objection start into the heart of woman? For my part, I wish Ihad fifty lovers to discard, for no other reason than because I did not fancy them.My dear Maria, you will forgive me; I know your candour and confidence in me; but I have at times, I confess, been led to sup-pose that some other gentleman was the cause of your aversion to Mr.Dimple.
MARIA
No, my sweet friend, you may be assured, that though I have seen many gentlemen I could prefer to Mr.Dimple, yet I never saw one that I thought Icould give my hand to, until this morning.
CHARLOTTE
This morning!
MARIA
Yes; one of the strangest accidents in the world.
The odious Dimple, after disgusting me with his con-versation, had just left me, when a gentleman, who, it seems, boards in the same house with him, saw him coming out of our door, and, the houses looking very much alike, he came into our house instead of his lodgings; nor did he discover his mistake until he got into the parlour, where I was; he then bowed so gracefully, made such a genteel apology, and looked so manly and noble!--CHARLOTTE
I see some folks, though it is so great an impropri-ety, can praise a gentleman, when he happens to be the man of their fancy.[Aside.]
MARIA
I don't know how it was,--I hope he did not think me indelicate,--but I asked him, I believe, to sit down, or pointed to a chair.He sat down, and, in-stead of having recourse to observations upon the weather, or hackneyed criticisms upon the theatre, he entered readily into a conversation worthy a man of sense to speak, and a lady of delicacy and sentiment to hear.He was not strictly handsome, but he spoke the language of sentiment, and his eyes looked tender-ness and honour.
CHARLOTTE
Oh! [eagerly] you sentimental, grave girls, when your hearts are once touched, beat us rattles a bar's length.And so you are quite in love with this he-angel?
MARIA
In love with him! How can you rattle so, Char-lotte? am I not going to be miserable? [Sighs.] In love with a gentleman I never saw but one hour in my life, and don't know his name! No; I only wished that the man I shall marry may look, and talk, and act, just like him.Besides, my dear, he is a married man.
CHARLOTTE
Why, that was good-natured--he told you so, I sup-pose, in mere charity, to prevent you falling in love with him?
MARIA
He didn't tell me so; [peevishly] he looked as if he was married.
CHARLOTTE
How, my dear; did he look sheepish?
MARIA
I am sure he has a susceptible heart, and the ladies of his acquaintance must be very stupid not to--CHARLOTTE
Hush! I hear some person coming.
Enter LETITIA.
LETITIA
My dear Maria, I am happy to see you.Lud!
what a pity it is that you have purchased your wed-ding clothes.
MARIA
I think so.[Sighing.]
LETITIA
