[_Exit ~Wor~. leading ~Aman~._ _Ber. sola._ Well, how this Business will end, Heaven knows; but she seems to me to be in as fair a way----as a Boy is to be a Rogue, when he's put Clerk to an Attorney. [_Exit ~Berinthia~._ +SCENE+, Berinthia's _Chamber_. _Enter ~Loveless~ cautiously in the dark._ _Lov._ So, thus for all's well. I'm got into her Bed-Chamber, and I think nobody has perceiv'd me steal into the House; my Wife don't expect me home till four o'Clock; so if _Berinthia_ comes to Bed by eleven, I shall have a Chace of five Hours. Let me see, where shall I hide myself? Under her Bed? No; we shall have her Maid searching there for something or other; her Closet's a better place, and I have a Master-Key will open it: I'll e'en in there, and attack her just when she comes to her Prayers, that's the most like to prove her critical Minute; for then the Devil will be there to assist me. [_He opens the Closet, goes in, and shuts the door after him._ _Enter ~Berinthia~ with a Candle in her hand._ _Ber._ Well, sure I am the best-natur'd Woman in the World. I that love Cards so well (there is but one thing upon the Earth I love better) have pretended Letters to write, to give my Friends a _Tête-à-Tête_; however, I'm innocent, for Picquet is the Game I set 'em to: at her own peril be it, if she ventures to play with him at any other. But now what shall I do with myself? I don't know how in the World to pass my time; wou'd _Loveless_ were here to _badiner_ a little! Well, he's a charming Fellow, I don't wonder his Wife's so fond of him. What if I shou'd set down and think of him till I fall asleep, and dream of the Lord knows what? O, but then if I shou'd dream we were married, I shou'd be frighted out of my Wits. [_Seeing a Book._] What's this Book? I think I had best go read. _O Splenetique!_ 'tis a Sermon. Well, I'll go into my Closet, and read the _Plotting Sisters_. [_She opens the Closet, sees ~Loveless~, and shrieks out._] O Lord, a Ghost, a Ghost, a Ghost, a Ghost! _Enter ~Loveless~ running to her._ _Lov._ Peace, my Dear; it's no Ghost, take it in your Arms, you'll find 'tis worth a hundred of 'em. _Ber._ Run in again; here's somebody coming. _Enter Maid._ _Maid._ O Lord, Madam, what's the matter? _Ber._ O Heav'ns! I'm almost frighted out of my Wits. I thought verily I had seen a Ghost, and 'twas nothing but the white Curtain, with a black Hood pinn'd up against it; you may be gone again, I am the fearfullest Fool.-- [_Exit Maid._ _Re-enter ~Loveless~._ _Lov._ Is the Coast clear? _Ber._ The Coast clear! I suppose you are clear, you'd never play such a Trick as this else.