No More Learning

(_Exit_ HARDCASTLE. ) Reserved and sheepish. Can't he be cured? (_Enter_
MISS NEVILLE. ) I'm glad you came, my dear. I am threatened with a
lover, the son of Sir Charles Marlow.

MISS NEVILLE: The most intimate friend of Mr. Hastings, my admirer;
and such a character. Among ladies of reputation the modestest man
alive, but with others----

MISS HARDCASTLE: And has my mother been courting you for my brother
Tony, as usual? I could almost love him for hating you so.

MISS NEVILLE: It is a good-natured creature at bottom, and I'm sure
would wish to see me married to anyone but himself. [_Exeunt_.


SCENE II. --_An alehouse_. TONY LUMPKIN _carousing with the village
riff-raff_.
MARLOW _and_ HASTINGS _arrive, and inquire the
way to_ MR. HARDCASTLE'S _house_. TONY _tells them they
cannot possibly reach the house that night, but directs them
to it as an inn_.

TONY: The old Buck's Head on the hill, one of the best inns in the
whole county. But the landlord is rich and just going to leave off
business; so he wants to be thought a gentleman, and will be for giving
you his company. Ecod, he'll persuade you that his mother was an
alderman, and his aunt a justice of the peace. I'll just step myself,
and show you a piece of the way.
[_Exeunt. _


ACT II

SCENE. --_The hall of_ HARDCASTLE'S _house_. MARLOW _and_ HASTINGS
_have just arrived at the supposed inn, and the supposed
innkeeper is paying hospitable attention to their belongings.
Enter_ MARLOW _and_ HASTINGS.

HASTINGS: Upon my word, a very well-looking house; antique, but
creditable.

MARLOW: The usual fate of a large mansion. Having just ruined the
master by good housekeeping, it at last comes to levy contributions as
an inn.

HASTINGS: Good and bad, you have lived pretty much among them; and
yet, with all your experience you have never acquired any show of
assurance.