_Cler._ Madam, be pleased to place yourself near me; nearer still, madam, here falls the best light. You must know, madam, there are three kinds of airs which the ladies most delight in: There is your haughty, your mild, and your pensive air. The haughty may be expressed with the head a little more erect than ordinary, and the countenance with a certain disdain in it, so as she may appear almost, but not quite, inexorable. This kind of air is generally heightened with a little knitting of the brows--I gave my lady Scornwell the choice of a dozen frowns before she could find one to her liking. _Niece._ But what's the mild air? _Cler._ The mild air is composed of a languish, and a smile--But, if I might advise, I'd rather be a pensive beauty; the pensive usually feels her pulse, leans on one arm, or sits ruminating with a book in her hand; which conversation she is supposed to choose rather than the endless importunities of lovers. _Hump._ A comical dog! _Aunt._ Upon my word he understands his business well; I'll tell you, niece, how your mother was drawn: she had an orange in her hand,[96] and a nosegay in her bosom, but a look so pure and fresh-coloured you'd have taken her for one of the Seasons. _Cler._ You seem indeed, madam, most inclined to the pensive. The pensive delights also in the fall of waters, pastoral figures, or any rural view suitable to a fair lady who, with a delicate spleen, has retired from the world, as sick of its flattery and admiration. _Niece._ No; since there is room for fancy in a picture, I would be drawn like the amazon Thalestris, with a spear in my hand, and an helmet on a table before me. At a distance behind let there be a dwarf, holding by the bridle a milk-white palfrey. _Cler._ Madam, the thought is full of spirit, and if you please, there shall be a Cupid stealing away your helmet, to show that love should have a part in all gallant actions. _Niece._ That circumstance may be very picturesque. _Cler._ Here, madam, shall be your own picture, here the palfrey, and here the dwarf--The dwarf must be very little, or we shan't have room for him. _Niece._ A dwarf cannot be too little. _Cler._ I'll make him a blackamoor to distinguish him from the other too powerful dwarf [_Sighs_]--the Cupid--I'll place that beauteous boy near you, 'twill look very natural--He'll certainly take you for his mother Venus. _Niece._ I leave these particulars to your own fancy. _Cler._[97] Please, madam, to uncover your neck a little; a little lower still--a little, little lower. _Niece._ I'll be drawn thus, if you please, sir. _Cler._ Ladies, have you heard the news of a late marriage between a young lady of great fortune and a younger brother of a good family? _Aunt._ Pray, sir, how is it?