LORD FOPPINGTON.
Well, adieu, Tam!—Ladies, I kiss your, hands!—Sir Tunbelly, I shall now quit this thy den; but while I retain the use of my arms, I shall ever remember thou art a demned horrid savage; Ged demn me! [Exit.]
SIR TUNBELLY CLUMSY.
By the mass, ’tis well he’s gone—for I should ha’ been provoked, by-and-by, to ha’ dun un a mischief. Well, if this is a lord, I think Hoyden has luck on her side, in troth.
COLONEL TOWNLY.
She has, indeed, Sir Tunbelly.—But I hear the fiddles; his lordship, I know, has provided ’em.
LOVELESS.
Oh, a dance and a bottle, Sir Tunbelly, by all means!
SIR TUNBELLY CLUMSY.
I had forgot the company below; well—what—we must be merry, then, ha? and dance and drink, ha? Well, ’fore George, you shan’t say I do these things by halves. Son-in-law there looks like a hearty rogue, so we’ll have a night on’t: and which of these ladies will be the old man’s partner, ha?—Ecod, I don’t know how I came to be in so good a humour.
BERINTHIA.
Well, Sir Tunbelly, my friend and I both will endeavour to keep you so: you have done a generous action, and are entitled to our attention. If you should be at a loss to divert your new guests, we will assist you to relate to them the plot of your daughter’s marriage, and his lordship’s deserved mortification; a subject which perhaps may afford no bad evening’s entertainment.
SIR TUNBELLY CLUMSY.
Ecod, with all my heart; though I am a main bungler at a long story.
BERINTHIA.
Never fear; we will assist you, if the tale is judged worth being repeated; but of this you may be assured, that while the intention is evidently to please, British auditors will ever be indulgent to the errors of the performance. [Exeunt omnes.]
The Critic
OR, A TRAGEDY REHEARSED A DRAMATIC PIECE IN THREE ACTS TO MRS. GREVILLE