[SCENE IV.]—An elegant apartment at the manor-house, lighted with candleabras, &c. Folding doors at the back. Five tables with writing paper on each, and ten chairs; two tables on each side, one in the centre, with writing materials on it. A letter on pink paper lying on the first table, L.
Enter NIGGLE, with MISS MEADOWS on his arm, C.D.
Nig. Well, here I am, and with a lady, according to the terms of my invitation. Oh, Miss Meadows, if I had not encountered you, I must have come here alone. We are the first pair that have arrived, I see. Oh, miss, I am a miserable man.
Miss Mea. Is your lady inexorable?
Nig. She is indeed. I brought her back in the chaise, but she sat up in a corner all the way, and never uttered a word. I have no hope now of ever being married! Will you have me? Think of it, do—we might be happy—and I’ll make one more effort for matrimony, if I go from street to street, knock at every door, and ask if there is any lady within who would not object to marry a respectable, middle-aged gentleman—of amiable temper, great sensibility, and small fortune!
[They sit at the front table on the L.
CHESTER enters with MISS SNARE on his arm, C.D.
Miss Sna. How very strange there is no one to receive us. Ah, Mr. Niggle!
Nig. How is it that Boss is not with you?
Miss Sna. A little disagreement; and as this gentleman had called at my house, he politely offered to bring me here, as I expressed an anxiety to see our new neighbour.