_Shuff._ Pray, sir, are you a methodist preacher, in want of a congregation? _Pereg._ Perhaps I'm a quack doctor, in want of a Jack Pudding.--Will you engage with me? _Shuff._ Damn me if this is to be borne.--Sir, the correction I must give you, will-- _Pereg._ [_With Coolness._] Desist, young man, in time, or you may repent your petulance. _Mary._ [_Coming between them._] Oh, gentlemen! pray, pray don't--I am so frightened! Indeed, sir, you mistake. [_To PEREGRINE._] This gentleman has been so good to me! [_Pointing to SHUFFLETON._ _Pereg._ Prove it, child, and I shall honour him. _Mary._ Indeed, indeed he has.--Pray, pray don't quarrel! when two such generous people meet, it would be a sad pity. See, sir, [_To PEREGRINE._] he has recommended me to a place in London;--here's the letter to the good lady, an elderly lady, in Marybone parish! and so kind, sir, every body, that knows her, calls her mother. _Pereg._ [_Looking at the superscription._] Infamous! sit down, and compose yourself, my love;--the gentleman and I shall soon come to an understanding. One word, sir: [_Mary sits at the back of the Scene, the Men advance._] I have lived long in India;--but the flies, who gad thither, buzz in our ears, till we learn what they have blown upon in England. I have heard of the wretch, in whose house you meant to place that unfortunate. _Shuff._ Well! and you meant to place her in snugger lodgings, I suppose? _Pereg._ I mean to place her where---- _Shuff._ No, my dear fellow, you don't;----unless you answer it to me. _Pereg._ I understand you.--In an hour, then, I shall be at the Manor-house, whence I suppose, you come. Here we are both unarmed; and there is one waiting at the door, who, perhaps, might interrupt us. _Shuff._ Who is he? _Pereg._ Her father;--her agonized father;----to whose entreaties I have yielded; and brought him here, prematurely.--He is a tradesman;--beneath your notice:--a vulgar brazier;--but he has some sort of feeling for his child! whom, now your friend has lured her to the precipice of despair, you would hurry down the gulf of infamy.--For your own convenience, sir, I would advise you to avoid him. _Shuff._ Your advice, now, begins to be a little sensible; and if you turn out a gentleman, though I suspect you to be one of the brazier's company, I shall talk to you at Sir Simon's. [_Exit._ _Mary._ Is the gentleman gone, sir? _Pereg._ Let him go, child; and be thankful that you have escaped from a villain. _Mary._ A villain, sir! _Pereg._ The basest; for nothing can be baser than manly strength, in the specious form of protection, injuring an unhappy woman. When we should be props to the lily in the storm, 'tis damnable to spring up like vigorous weeds, and twine about the drooping flower, till we destroy it. _Mary._ Then, where are friends to be found, sir? He seemed honest; so do you; but, perhaps, you may be as bad.