A Trip to Scarborough; and, The Critic

by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Succeed or fail, still victory is my lot;
If I subdue his heart, ’tis well—if not,
I will subdue my conscience to my plot.

[Exeunt.]

ACT II.

SCENE I.—LOVELESS’S Lodgings.

Enter LOVELESS and AMANDA.

LOVELESS.
How do you like these lodgings, my dear? For my part, I am so pleased with them, I shall hardly remove whilst we stay here, if you are satisfied.

AMANDA.
I am satisfied with everything that pleases you, else I had not come to Scarborough at all.

LOVELESS.
Oh, a little of the noise and folly of this place will sweeten the pleasures of our retreat; we shall find the charms of our retirement doubled when we return to it.

AMANDA.
That pleasing prospect will be my chiefest entertainment, whilst, much against my will, I engage in those empty pleasures which ’tis so much the fashion to be fond of.

LOVELESS.
I own most of them are, indeed, but empty; yet there are delights of which a private life is destitute, which may divert an honest man, and be a harmless entertainment to a virtuous woman: good music is one; and truly (with some small allowance) the plays, I think, may be esteemed another.