Count. Hee bee ver pretty Poet too.—Begar she will puzzle me.
Mrs. Fan. Poet, Monsieur! he writ Romances.
Count. Ah, Madam, in France we callè de Romance, de Posie.
Mrs. Fan. And as Monsieur Balzac says, Songez un peu.
Count. Dat Balzac write de very good Romance.
Mrs. Fan. Indeed! I never heard that.
Count. Je vous assure.—A pox on her reading!
Gertrude is the foil to Mrs. Fantast and she sees no necessity for the punctilious breeding of the ladies Fantast. "Breeding! I know no Breeding necessary, but Discretion to distinguish Company and Occasions; and Common Sense, to entertain Persons according to their Ranks; besides making a Curt'sie not awkwardly, and walking with one's Toes out."
To so low-bred a view of manners Mrs. Fantast can only exclaim, "Ars non habet Inimicum præter Ignorantem"; but Gertrude responds: "A Lady may look after the Affairs of a Family, the Demeanor of her Servants, take care of her Nursery, take all her Accounts every Week, obey her husband, and discharge all the Offices of a good Wife, with her Native Tongue; and this is all I desire to arrive at."