_Another Room in Lady_ Galliard"s _House_.
Enter Sir_ Charles Meriwill _and Sir_ Anthony, _Sir_ Charles _drunk_.
Sir _Anth_. A Dog, a Rogue, to leave her!
Sir _Char_. Why, look ye, Uncle, what wou"d you have a Man do? I brought her to her Coach--
Sir _Anth_. To her Coach! to her Coach! Did not I put her into your Hand, follow"d you out, wink"d, smil"d and nodded; cry"d "bye _Charles_, "bye Rogue; which was as much as to say, Go home with her, _Charles_, home to her Chamber, _Charles_; nay, as much as to say, Home to her Bed, _Charles_; nay, as much as to say--Hum, hum, a Rogue, a Dog, and yet to be modest too! That I shou"d bring thee up with no more Fear of G.o.d before thy Eyes!
Sir _Char_. Nay, dear Uncle, don"t break my Heart now! Why, I did proffer, and press, and swear, and ly"d, and--but a pox on her, she has the d.a.m.n"dst wheedling way with her, as dear _Charles_, nay prithee, fie, "tis late, to morrow, my Honour, which if you lov"d you wou"d preserve; and such obliging Reasons.
Sir _Anth_. Reasons! Reason! a Lover, and talk of Reason! You lye, Sirrah, you lye. Leave a Woman for Reason, when you were so finely drunk too, a Rascal!
Sir _Char_. Why look ye, d"ye see, Uncle, I durst not trust my self alone with her in this pickle, lest I shou"d ha" fallen foul on her.
Sir _Anth_. Why, there"s it; "tis that you shou"d have done; I am mistaken if she be not one of those Ladies that love to be ravisht of a Kindness. Why, your willing Rape is all the Fashion, _Charles_.
Sir _Char_. But hark ye, Uncle.
Sir _Anth_. Why, how now, Jack-sauce, what, capitulate?
Sir _Char_. Why, do but hear me, Uncle; Lord, you"re so hasty! Why, look ye, I am as ready, d"ye see, as any Man on these Occasions.
Sir _Anth_. Are you so, Sir? and I"ll make you willing, or try Toledo with you, Sir--Why, what, I shall have you whining when you are sober again, traversing your Chamber with Arms across, railing on Love and Women, and at last defeated, turn whipping _Tom_, to revenge your self on the whole s.e.x.
Sir _Char_. My dear Uncle, come kiss me and be friends; I will be rul"d.
[_Kisses him_.
Sir _Anth_.--A most admirable good-natur"d Boy this! [_Aside_.
Well then, dear _Charles_, know, I have brought thee now hither to the Widow"s House, with a Resolution to have thee order matters so, as before thou quitst her, she shall be thy own, Boy.
Sir _Char_. Gad, Uncle, thou"rt a Cherubin! Introduce me, d"ye see, and if I do not so woo the Widow, and so do the Widow, that e"er morning she shall be content to take me for better for worse--Renounce me! Egad, I"ll make her know the Lord G.o.d from _Tom Bell_, before I have done with her.
Nay, backt by my n.o.ble Uncle, I"ll venture on her, had she all Cupid"s Arrows, genus"s Beauty, and Messalina"s Fire, d"ye see.
Sir _Anth_. A sweet Boy, a very sweet Boy! Hum, thou art d.a.m.nable handsome to Night, _Charles_--Ay, thou wilt do"t; I see a kind of resistless Leudness about thee, a most triumphant Impudence, loose and wanton.
[_Stands looking on him_.
_Enter_ Closet.
_Clos_. Heavens, Gentlemen, what makes you here at this time of Night?
Sir _Char_. Where"s your Lady?
_Clos_. Softly, dear Sir.
Sir _Char_. Why, is she asleep? Come, come, I"ll wake her.
[_Offers to force in as to the Bed-chamber_.
_Clos_. Hold, hold, Sir; No, no, she"s a little busy, Sir.
Sir _Char_. I"ll have no Business done to Night, Sweetheart.
_Clos_. Hold, hold, I beseech you, Sir, her Mother"s with her; For Heaven"s sake, Sir, be gone.
Sir _Char_. I"ll not budge.
Sir _Anth_. No, not a Foot.
_Clos_. The City you know, Sir, is so censorious--
Sir _Char_. d.a.m.n the City.
Sir _Anth_. All the Whigs, _Charles_, all the Whigs.
Sir _Char_. In short, I am resolv"d, d"ye see, to go to the Widow"s Chamber.
Sir _Anth_. Harkye, Mrs. Closet I thought I had entirely engag"d you this Evening.
_Clos_. I am perfectly yours, Sir; but how it happens so, her Mother being there--Yet if you wou"d withdraw for half an hour, into my Chamber, till she were gone--
Sir _Anth_. This is the Reason, _Charles_. Here, here"s two Pieces to buy thee a Gorget.
[_Gives her Money_.
Sir _Char_. And here"s my two, because thou art industrious.
[_Gives her Money, and they go out with her_.
_Enter Lady_ Galliard _in rage, held by_ Wilding.
L. _Gal_. What have I done? Ah, whither shall I fly?
[_Weeps_.
_Wild_. Why all these Tears? Ah, why this cruel Pa.s.sion?
L. _Gal_. Undone, undone! Unhand me, false, forsworn; Be gone, and let me rage till I am dead.
What shou"d I do with guilty Life about me?
_Wild_. Why, where"s the harm of what we two have done?
L. _Gal_. Ah, leave me-- Leave me alone to sigh to flying Winds, That the Infection may be borne aloft, And reach no human Ear.
_Wild_. Cease, lovely Charmer, cease to wound me more.
L. _Gal_. Shall I survive this Shame? No, if I do, Eternal Blushes dwell upon my Cheeks, To tell the World my Crime.
--Mischief and h.e.l.l, what Devil did possess me?
_Wild_. It was no Devil, but a Deity; A little gay wing"d G.o.d, harmless and innocent, Young as Desire, wanton as Summer-breezes, Soft as thy Smiles, resistless as thy Eyes.
L. _Gal_. Ah, what malicious G.o.d, Sworn Enemy to feeble Womankind, Taught thee the Art of Conquest with thy Tongue?