_Dor_. Will you promise not to make yourself easy in the meantime with my lord's friend? _Mrs. Sul_. You mistake me, sister. It happens with us as among the men, the greatest talkers are the greatest cowards? and there's a reason for it; those spirits evaporate in prattle, which might do more mischief if they took another course.-- Though, to confess the truth, I do love that fellow; --and if I met him dressed as he should be, and I undressed as I should be--look 'ee, sister, I have no supernatural gifts--I can't swear I could resist the temptation; though I can safely promise to avoid it; and that's as much as the best of us can do. [_Exeunt_. ACT IV., SCENE II. _A Room in Bonifaces Inn_. _Enter Aimwell and Archer laughing_. _Arch_. And the awkward kindness of the good motherly old gentlewoman-- _Aim_. And the coming easiness of the young one-- 'Sdeath, 'tis pity to deceive her! _Arch_. Nay, if you adhere to these principles, stop where you are. _Aim_. I can't stop; for I love her to distraction. _Arch_. 'Sdeath, if you love her a hair's-breadth beyond discretion, you must go no further. 9 _Aim_. Well, well, anything to deliver us from sauntering away our idle evenings at White's, Tom's, or Will's and be stinted to bare looking at our old acquaintance, the cards; because our impotent pockets can't afford us a guinea for the mercenary drabs. _Arch_. Or be obliged to some purse-proud coxcomb for a scandalous bottle, where we must not pretend to our share of the discourse, because we can't pay our club o' th' reckoning.--Damn it, I had rather sponge upon Morris, and sup upon a dish of bones scored behind the door! _Aim_. And there expose our want of sense by talking criticisms, as we should our want of money by railing at the government. _Arch_. Or be obliged to sneak into the side-box, and between both houses steal two acts of a play, and because we han't money to see the other three, we come away discontented, and damn the whole five. _Aim_. And ten thousand such rascally tricks--had we outlived our fortunes among our acquaintance.-- But now-- {30} _Arch_. Ay, now is the time to prevent all this:--strike while the iron is hot.--This priest is the luckiest part of our adventure; he shall marry you, and pimp for me. _Aim_. But I should not like a woman that can be so fond of a Frenchman. _Arch_. Alas, sir! Necessity has no law. The lady may be in distress; perhaps she has a confounded husband, and her revenge may carry her farther than her love. Egad, I have so good an opinion of her, and of myself, that I begin to fancy strange things: and we must say this for the honour of our women, and indeed of ourselves, that they do stick to their men as they do to their _Magna Charta_, If the plot lies as I suspect, I must put on the gentleman.--But here comes the doctor--I shall be ready. [_Exit_. [_Enter Foigard_.] _Foi_. Sauve you, noble friend.