_Capt._ See, she comes. If your lordship would kindly reason with her, and assure her, officially, that it is a standing rule at the Admiralty that love levels all ranks, her respect for an official utterance might induce her to look upon your offer in its proper light. _Sir J._ It is not unlikely. I will adopt your suggestion. But soft, she is here. Let us withdraw, and watch our opportunity. _Enter JOSEPHINE from cabin. SIR JOSEPH retires up and watches her._ SCENA.--JOSEPHINE. The hours creep on apace, My guilty heart is quaking! Oh that I might retract The step that I am taking. Its folly it were easy to be showing, What I am giving up and whither going. On the one hand, papa’s luxurious home, Hung with ancestral armour and old brasses, Carved oak and tapestry from distant Rome, Rare “blue and white” Venetian finger-glasses, Rich Oriental rugs, luxurious sofa pillows, And everything that isn’t old, from Gillow’s. And on the other, a dark dingy room In some back street, with stuffy children crying, Where organs yell, and clacking housewives fume, And clothes are hanging out all day a-drying; With one cracked looking-glass to see your face in, And dinner served up in a pudding basin! A simple sailor, lowly born, Unlettered and unknown, Who toils for bread from early morn Till half the night has flown! No golden rank can he impart-- No wealth of house or land-- No fortune save his trusty heart And honest brown right hand! And yet he is so wondrous fair That love for one so passing rare, So peerless in his manly beauty, Were little else than solemn duty! Oh, god of love, and god of reason, say, Which of you twain shall my poor heart obey! _Sir J._ (_coming forward_). Madam, it has been represented to me that you are appalled by my exalted rank; I desire to convey to you, officially, my assurance that if your hesitation is attributable to that circumstance, it is uncalled for. _Jos._ Oh! then your lordship is of opinion that married happiness is _not_ inconsistent with discrepancy in rank? _Sir J._ I am officially of that opinion. _Jos._ That the high and the lowly may be truly happy together, provided that they truly love one another? _Sir J._ Madam, I desire to convey to you, officially, my opinion that love is a platform upon which all ranks meet. _Jos._ I thank you, Sir Joseph. I _did_ hesitate, but I will hesitate no longer. (_Aside._) He little thinks how eloquently he has pleaded his rival’s cause!