_Tru._ That very lord--that very Lord Brumpton, the very generous, honest, and good Lord Brumpton, who spent his strong and riper years with honour and reputation; but in his age of decay declined from virtue also. That very Lord Brumpton, who buried a fine lady who brought him a fine son, who is a fine gentleman; but in his age, that very man, unreasonably captivated with youth and beauty, married a very fine young lady, who has dishonoured his bed, disinherited his brave son, and dances o'er his grave. _Ld. B._ Oh! that damned tautologist, too--that Puzzle and his irrevocable deed! [_Pausing._] Well, I know I do not really live, but wander o'er the place where once I had a treasure. I'll haunt her, Trusty, gaze in that false beauteous face, till she trembles--till she looks pale--nay, till she blushes---- _Tru._ Ay, ay, my lord, you speak a ghost very much; there's flesh and blood in that expression, that false beauteous face! _Ld. B._ Then since you see my weakness, be a friend, and arm me with all your care and all your reason---- _Tru._ If you'll condescend to let me direct you--you shall cut off this rotten limb, your false disloyal wife, and save your noble parts, your son, your family, your honour. Short is the date in which ill acts prevail, But honesty's a rock can never fail. ACT THE SECOND. SCENE I.--LORD HARDY'S _Lodgings._ _Enter_ LORD HARDY. _Ld. H._ Now, indeed, I am utterly undone; but to expect an evil softens the weight of it when it happens, and pain no more than pleasure is in reality so great as in expectation. But what will become of me? How shall I keep myself even above worldly want? Shall I live at home a stiff, melancholy, poor man of quality, grow uneasy to my acquaintance as well as myself, by fancying I'm slighted where I am not; with all the thousand particularities which attend those whom low fortune and high spirit make malcontents? No! We've a brave prince on the throne, whose commission I bear, and a glorious war in an honest cause approaching [_clapping his hand on his sword_], in which this shall cut bread for me, and may perhaps equal that estate to which my birth entitled me. But what to do in present pressures--Ha! Trim. [_Calling._ _Enter_ TRIM. _Trim._ My lord. _Ld. H._ How do the poor rogues that are to recruit my Company? _Trim._ Do, sir! They've ate you to your last guinea. _Ld. H._ Were you at the agent's? _Trim._ Yes. _Ld. H._ Well? And how? _Trim._ Why, sir, for your arrears, you may have eleven shillings in the pound; but he'll not touch your growing subsistence under three shillings in the pound interest; besides which you must let his clerk, Jonathan Item, swear the peace against you to keep you from duelling--or insure your life, which you may do for eight per cent. On these terms he'll oblige you, which he would not do for anybody else in the regiment; but he has a friendship for you.