This was once proposed before,
and I refused it; but the present impatience of my creditors for
their money, and my own impatience of confinement, and absence from
Angelica, force me to consent.
SCAN. A very desperate demonstration of your love to Angelica; and
I think she has never given you any assurance of hers.
VAL. You know her temper; she never gave me any great reason either
for hope or despair.
SCAN. Women of her airy temper, as they seldom think before they
act, so they rarely give us any light to guess at what they mean.
But you have little reason to believe that a woman of this age, who
has had an indifference for you in your prosperity, will fall in
love with your ill-fortune; besides, Angelica has a great fortune of
her own; and great fortunes either expect another great fortune, or
a fool.
SCENE IX.
[To them] JEREMY.
JERE. More misfortunes, sir.
VAL. What, another dun?
JERE. No, sir, but Mr Tattle is come to wait upon you.
VAL. Well, I can't help it, you must bring him up; he knows I don't
go abroad.
SCENE X.
VALENTINE, SCANDAL.
SCAN. Pox on him, I'll be gone.
VAL. No, prithee stay: Tattle and you should never be asunder; you
are light and shadow, and show one another; he is perfectly thy
reverse both in humour and understanding; and as you set up for
defamation, he is a mender of reputations.
SCAN. A mender of reputations! Ay, just as he is a keeper of
secrets, another virtue that he sets up for in the same manner.
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