 | A Hint to Husbands |  |
SCENE II.
—An Apartment in the Castle.Servant enters followed by Trevor.
SERVANT.
My lady, sir, can see no company.
TREVOR.
I am no company—I am her cousin;
Her father's nephew.
SERVANT.
May I beg your name?
TREVOR.
My name is Trevor.
SERVANT.
Here my lady comes.
[Exit Servant.
Lady Transit enters.
LADY TRANSIT.
Ah! is it you? Why do you stand aloof?
Give me your hand, George! We have been old friends
And play-fellows.—Don't think I can forget you!
17
Oh! had I found that lovely nature chang'd—
Had you received me haughtily, I think
It would have broke my heart.
LADY TRANSIT.
Why shou'd you doubt me?
But I am all impatience for your news.
Is my dear father well?
TREVOR.
In health most perfect,
In manner not less rugged than he was.
LADY TRANSIT.
Well, well, we know his humour, and his heart.
TREVOR.
I have a letter from him to your lord;
I think I cross'd upon him at the door.
LADY TRANSIT.
'Twas not my lord: it was Sir Charles Le Brun.
TREVOR.
I'm glad I pass'd him. Where shall I deliver
This packet I am charg'd with?
LADY TRANSIT.
Give it me.
My lord is not at home. Do you suppose
That I may read it?
TREVOR.
I am sure you may.
18
'Tis not my father's hand.
TREVOR.
His lawyer wrote it;
He set his name to it. So, that's enough.
Read, read it! The contents will not displease you.
LADY TRANSIT.
[reads]
“My Lord!—A considerable property
having fallen to me unexpectedly, I must desire
you will permit my daughter to come to me in
London without delay, having business to adjust,
in which she, as my only child, is materially interested.
—I am, my Lord, your very humble servant,
“Philip Fairford.
P. S. “I have sent my nephew with this letter,
who will conduct her to my house in the City.”
TREVOR.
Yes; that's all true: it is a princely fortune.
Old Gallishoff, the Russian merchant, will'd it
To your good father—and your father earn'd it;
Got him a world of money; made four voyages
To Russia—I was with him on the last.
You married in his absence—I must tell you
It did not please him; but you'll find a pardon.
LADY TRANSIT.
When such good fortune falls upon my family
I must not murmur.
TREVOR.
Rather say you will not;
19
The fountains of affliction in those eyes,
Whose mute expression words could never mend.
Ah, my Louisa!—let me still address you
By that dear name—I know you are unhappy.
LADY TRANSIT.
How can you know that? Since I was a wife
We've never met.
TREVOR.
Think not, because I'm banish'd
From these proud doors, which have denied access
E'en to your father, that no voice hath told
A tale of secret sorrows in my ear:
Yes; I have heard them—felt them.
LADY TRANSIT.
Stop, my friend:
If I have sorrows, they shall be my own;
If I am arm'd in innocence, and clear
And bold in conscience, I want no defender.
TREVOR.
Well, if that day shall come, and I am living,
You will remember that there is a creature
Who lov'd you as a brother;—how much better
Is not for me to say.
LADY TRANSIT.
Doubt me not, George!
'Tis not a title can estrange my mind
From its remembrance of those happy days,
When kindred nature twin'd our hearts together.
20
And dwell on scenes like these. I must depart.
My lord's command confirms my father's call;
I scarce can bid you welcome to the castle:
So instant we must be upon our journey.
TREVOR.
I may attend upon you—?
LADY TRANSIT.
Oh, no doubt;
My father sent you hither for that purpose:
You'll be my sole companion; I shall take
No equipage of Lord Transit's, and one servant
Of either sex; no more.
TREVOR.
Can you be serious?
This is not going as becomes your rank.
LADY TRANSIT.
If it becomes my duty so to go,
I'll ask no leave of rank, but go without it;
And when you find me slighted and forsaken
By him whose wife I am, make no appeal,
But let him go, till conscience in his heart
Shall fix that hook by which to draw him back
To his domestic peace; for sure the fruits
Of virtue are not of that tasteless sort,
That the pall'd appetite should feel disgust
At her pure regimen, and turn aside
To snatch at pleasures, by experience found
Productive only of remorse and shame.
[Exeunt.
| A Hint to Husbands | |