Lady Teazle.
[Stamping her foot.] Insolent!
Sir Peter.
[Chuckling.] Ha, ha! Very good. I’ faith, Mr. Surface, I could almost find it in my heart to forgive you for your injuries towards me when you talk like that.
Joseph.
Injuries, Sir Peter? I never did you an injury. That affair of the screen was the merest misunderstanding. I had no desire at all to capture the affections of Lady Teazle. On the contrary, ’twould have been highly inconvenient for me. ’Twas your ward Maria that I wished to win.
Lady Teazle.
Monster!
Joseph.
[Continuing.] Unhappily, Lady Teazle mistook the nature of my attentions and I, knowing her temper [bowing to Lady Teazle], feared to undeceive her lest she should use her influence to prejudice me in the eyes of your ward. That, Sir Peter, is the true explanation of the situation in which you found Lady Teazle on that unlucky morning.