FLOR. With me?
HETTY. With you? Don’t flatter yourself! with me! He was on the point of saying something very tender to me when you jealously monopolized his attention!
FLOR. Nonsense! I’m sure he was about to declare his passion for me when you cruelly dragged him away!
HETTY. Then it’s quite clear he means to marry one of us! If he honors me with the preference, I must refer him to Mallingford, ha! ha!
FLOR. And if he pops to me, he’ll have to settle the matter with Captain Taunton, ha! ha! ha!
Here CAPTAIN TAUNTON’S head appears above the wall at R.
TAUNT. Good-morning, ladies! Will you open the door or shall I storm the fortress? (HETTY runs and opens door R.; TAUNTON enters). Now, ladies, may I ask the cause of all this merriment, and whether there is any objection to my sharing in the joke?
FLOR. None at all, Harry; it simply means that Hetty is likely to become “Mrs. Samuel Skruff” vice “Edward Mallingford,” cashiered.
HETTY. Don’t be quite so positive, because it isn’t quite decided yet whether it will not be “Samuel Skruff” vice “Henry Taunton.” He’s a tailor, and a capital hand at cutting out.