FAULKLAND
What, is he much acquainted in the family?
ABSOLUTE Oh, very intimate: I insist on your not going: besides, his character will divert you.
FAULKLAND
Well, I should like to ask him a few questions.
ABSOLUTE He is likewise a rival of mine—that is, of my other self's, for he does not think his friend Captain Absolute ever saw the lady in question; and it is ridiculous enough to hear him complain to me of one Beverley, a concealed skulking rival, who——
FAULKLAND
Hush!—he's here.
[Enter ACRES.]
ACRES Ha! my dear friend, noble captain, and honest Jack, how do'st thou? just arrived, faith, as you see.—Sir, your humble servant.—Warm work on the roads, Jack!—Odds whips and wheels! I've travelled like a comet, with a tail of dust all the way as long as the Mall.
ABSOLUTE
Ah! Bob, you are indeed an eccentric planet, but we know your
attraction hither.—Give me leave to introduce Mr. Faulkland to you; Mr.
Faulkland, Mr. Acres.
ACRES Sir, I am most heartily glad to see you: sir, I solicit your connections.—Hey, Jack—what, this is Mr. Faulkland, who——
ABSOLUTE
Ay, Bob, Miss Melville's Mr. Faulkland.