_Flor._ Hey-day!--my old acquaintance, Peter! where"s my brother?
_Peter._ Sir, he has been out the whole evening.
_Louisa._ In the same house with Neville!--oh, Heavens!
_Flor._ Well, Miss Courtney, I hope now you are convinced of your safety.
_Louisa._ Yes, sir, but I would it were in any other place; lady Waitfor"t, ere this, is in pursuit of me, and if she discovers me here, you know too well how much I have to dread.
[_Knock at the Door.--Exit PETER._
_Flor._ Don"t be alarm"d, there"s nothing shall molest you.
_Louisa._ Oh, sir, you don"t know the endless malice of lady Waitfor"t--she will triumph in my misery, and till my lord is convinced of her duplicity, I see no hope of your brother"s happiness, or my own.
_Enter PETER._
_Peter._ Lady Waitfor"t is below, inquiring for that lady, or my master.
_Flor._ For my brother?
_Peter._ Yes, sir, and my lord has sent to know if Mr Vapid, or her ladyship, have been here;--he was in bed, but on receiving a letter, got up, and will be here in an instant.
_Louisa._ For Heaven"s sake, Mr Floriville, let me retire,--I cannot support the conflict.
_Flor._ Promise to recall your spirits, and you shall.
_Louisa._ What I can do I will.
_Flor._ Then know no apprehension, for, on my life, you shall not be disturbed.
[_Leads her to the Door of the Library, and talks in dumb show._
_Vapid._ [_From Closet._] Peter! Peter! can"t you release me?
_Peter._ No, sir, don"t move, you"ll ruin every thing.
_Vapid._ Then give me that candle--I have pen and ink--I think I could finish my epilogue.
_Peter._ Here, sir. [_Giving Candle._
_Vapid._ That curst half line--"Die all"-- [_PETER shuts him in._
_Flor._ So, now, the storm begins, and if I don"t have some sport with the enemy--[_Sits at Table, and begins drinking._]--here she comes.
_Enter LADY WAITFOR"T._
_Flor._ Chairs, Peter, chairs,--Sit down, ma"am--sit down--you honour me exceedingly.
_Lady._ Where is your brother, sir? I insist on seeing him.
_Enter LORD SCRATCH._
_Lord._ There she is!--in a man"s lodgings at midnight--here"s treatment!
_Lady._ My lord, I came here in search of Louisa, who has been betrayed from my power.
_Lord._ Look ye, my lady--read that letter, that"s all; read that letter, and then say, if we sha"n"t both cut a figure in the print shops.
_Lady._ [_Taking Letter._] Ha! Willoughby"s hand! [_Reads._] _Lady Waitfor"t, (I have only time to tell you) is gone to Neville"s lodgings, to meet one she has long had a pa.s.sion for--follow her, and be convinced of her duplicity._ Oh, the villain! well, my lord, and pray who is the man I come to meet?
_Lord._ Why, who should it be but the stage ruffian? if there was a sofa in the room, my life on"t, he"d pop from behind it.--Zounds! that fellow will lay straw before my door every nine months!
_Lady._ This is fortunate.--[_Aside._]--Well, sir, if I discover Louisa, I hope you"ll be convinced I came here to redeem her, and not disgrace myself. Tell me, sir, immediately, where she is concealed.
[_To FLORIVILLE._
_Flor._ Sit down, ma"am--sit down: drink, drink, then we"ll talk over the whole affair--there is no doing business without wine; come, here"s "The glory of gallantry"--I"m sure you"ll both drink that.
_Lady._ No trifling, sir; tell me where she is concealed;--nay, then I"ll examine the apartment myself--[_Goes to Door of Library._]--the door lock"d! give me the key, sir.
_Flor._ [_Drinking._] "The glory of gallantry, ma"am."
_Lord._ Hear me, sir, if the lady"s in that apartment, I shall be convinced that you and your brother are the sole authors of all this treachery; if she is there, by the honour of my ancestors, she shall be Willoughby"s wife to-morrow morning.
_Flor._ [_Rising._] Shall she, my lord? Pray, were you ever in Italy?
_Lord._ Why, c.o.xcomb?
_Flor._ Because, I"m afraid you"ve been bitten by a tarantula--you"ll excuse me, but the symptoms are wonderfully alarming--There is a blazing fury in your eye--a wild emotion in your countenance, and a green spot--
_Lord._ d.a.m.n the green spot! open that door, and let me see immediately: I"m a peer, and have a right to look at any thing.
_Flor._ [_Standing before the Door._] No, sir; this door must not be open"d.
_Lord._ Then I"ll forget my peerage, and draw my sword.
_Flor._ [_To LADY WAITFOR"T, who is going to interfere._] Don"t be alarm"d, ma"am, I"ll only indulge him for my own amus.e.m.e.nt--mere trout fishing, ma"am--
_Enter LOUISA, from the Apartment._
_Louisa._ Hold! I charge you, hold!--let not my unhappy fate be the source of more calamities.
_Lord._ "Tis she herself:--My lady did not come to meet the madman.
_Flor._ By the lord, ma"am, you have ruined all.
_Louisa._ I know, sir, the consequences of this discovery, and I abide by them.--But what I have done, I can justify, and "would to Heaven all here could do the same!
_Flor._ Indeed, I can"t tell--I wish I was in Italy.