_Agnes._ I have found out that there"s a gang of gipsies in the wood.
_Lucy._ Is that your secret? Then dame Fowler was let into it last night, for she lost her best turkey, and she frets about it very much.
It was the one that she intended to send to the Hall on Christmas Day.
_Agnes._ But that is not the secret, Lucy. The real secret is--that I wish to have my fortune told; and you must contrive with me how to manage it.
_Lucy._ Shall I send the woman up to the Hall; she was here yesterday.
_Agnes._ No, no, you stupid thing. Lady Etheridge hates the very name of a gipsy. One was at the Hall yesterday, and she threatened her with Bridewell.
_Lucy._ Well then, shall I find out where they are? and we can go together.
_Agnes._ That"s exactly what I wish, Lucy; but it must be soon, as we expect my brother and his friend belonging to the same regiment, and I must not be out of the way when they arrive.
_Lucy._ Who is this friend?
_Agnes._ A Captain Mertoun. (_Sighs._) I have seen him before.
_Lucy._ He is then acquainted with your family?
_Agnes._ Not with my father and mother. When I was at Cheltenham with my aunt, I met him very often. There is a little secret there, too, Lucy.
_Lucy._ Another?
_Agnes._ Yes, another. Don"t you long to hear it?
_Lucy._ (_Smiling_). If you long to tell it?
_Agnes._ How provoking you are! You know I do. Well, then, this Captain Mertoun is--a very handsome man.
_Lucy._ Is that all?
_Agnes._ No; but it"s something to the point, because he says he is very much in love with me.
_Lucy._ I"ll believe that. Who is not?
_Agnes._ Don"t be silly, Lucy; but the last part of the secret is the most important. I think, Lucy, that I like him--that is--a little--a very little. Now, since my father has told me he was coming down with my brother, I"ve been in a perfect fever, I don"t know why--and so--and so--that is the reason why I wish to have my fortune told. I know that it"s very silly, and all nonsense; but still nonsense is very agreeable sometimes.
_Lucy._ But you will not believe a word that you are told.
_Agnes._ No, not one word, unless it happens to meet with my own wishes; and then you know.--But I really must be gone. Good-bye, Lucy. Remember our meeting in the wood. [_Exit Agnes._
_Lucy._ G.o.d bless thee, dearest Agnes; yet would that I had never seen either you or your brother! What is intended in kindness is, too often, cruelty. The kiss of affection that is implanted on the lips, may take so deep a root, as to entwine the heart. Heigho! What an elegant young man is Captain Etheridge! I recollect, when we used to romp, and quarrel, and kiss; then, I had no fear of him: and now, if he but speaks to me, I tremble, and feel my face burn with blushes. Heigho!--this world demands more philosophy than is usually possessed by a girl of nineteen.
_Scene V._
_The Gipsy encampment.--Enter Nelly._
_Nelly._ I have been plotting my revenge on Lady Etheridge; and I have a scheme which may succeed. I must, however, be guided by circ.u.mstances; yet, by the means of this senseless fool, I hope to make much mischief.
O, here he comes.
_Enter Peter._
Good day, again. I have been waiting for you. The stars are in the ascendant.
_Peter._ I thought they were up in the sky.
_Nelly._ Exactly. Now let me read the lines on your face. The finest gentleman in the land would give half his fortune for those lines.
_Peter._ Then pray, what is my fortune, good woman?
_Nelly._ One that requires gold, with which to cross my hand; and then it would be too cheap.
_Peter._ Gold! Won"t a shilling do?
_Nelly._ I wish you good-day, Sir; I thought you were a gentleman.
_Peter._ Well, so I am; but gentlemen are not always very flush of guineas. However, I have one here, and it shall go for my fortune.
[_Gives money._
_Nelly._ The planet, Georgium Sidum, says, that you are the son of the steward, and your name is Bargrove.
_Peter._ Now, that is surprising!
_Nelly._ But Georgium Sidum tells not the truth.
_Peter._ Do the stars ever lie?
_Nelly._ O, the new ones do. They have not been long in the business.
But the old ones never fail.
_Peter._ Astonishing! and only supposed to be Bargrove"s son. Go on, good woman, go on. What do the old planets say?
_Nelly._ Nay, I must stop a little. That is all I can see just now; but more will be revealed to me by-and-bye. What does Artemidorus say in his ninety-ninth chapter, written in double Chaldean before letters were invented?
_Peter._ I don"t know. What does he say?
_Nelly._ That you must gain great truths by little ones. So you must tell me all you know about yourself, and I shall be able to find out more.
_Peter._ I was educated with Mr Edward Etheridge; and, when our education was completed, he went into the army and I was sent home to my father"s--that is--to Mr Bargrove"s.
_Nelly._ I understand.
_Peter._ This Mr Bargrove proposed that I should accompany him every day to obtain a knowledge of agriculture, and employ my evenings in keeping the accounts, that I might be able to succeed him in his office of steward.
_Nelly._ Exactly--but the stars tell me that you did not like it.
_Peter._ Couldn"t bear it. Why, my boots, which I am so particular in having well polished, were so loaded with clay the very first time, that I could hardly lift my legs, and I stumbled into a ditch filled with stinging nettles; so I gave it up, and the old gentleman constantly swears that I am no son of his.