SERJEANT.
No, no, chuck, that did not escape me; I have provided for that.—Do you know, by the law, both parties are equally culpable; so that, lovee, we shall be able to fleece your friends not only of what they have won of poor dearee, but likewise for what they have lost.
Mrs. CIRCUIT.
Why, what a paltry, pettifogging puppy art thou!—And could you suppose that I would submit to the scandalous office?
SERJEANT.
Scandalous! I don't understand this strange perversion of words. The scandal lies in breaking the laws, not in bringing the offenders to justice.
Mrs. CIRCUIT.
Mean-spirited wretch!—What, do you suppose that those laws could be levell'd against people of their high rank and condition? Can it be thought that any set of men would submit to lay legal restraints on themselves?—Absurd and preposterous!
SERJEANT.
Why, by their public practice, my love, one would suspect that they thought themselves excepted by a particular clause.