Polly. _O ponder well! be not severe_; _So save a wretched Wife_! _For on the Rope that hangs my Dear_ _Depends poor_ Polly’s _Life_. _Mrs. Peachum_. But your Duty to your Parents, Hussy, obliges you to hang him. What would many a Wife give for such an Opportunity! _Polly_. What is a Jointure, what is Widow-hood to me? I know my Heart. I cannot survive him. AIR XIII. Le printems rapelle aux armes. _The Turtle thus with plaintive Crying_, _Her Lover dying_, _The Turtle thus with plaintive Crying_, _Laments her Dove_. _Down she drops quite spent with Sighing_. _Pair’d in Death_, _as pair’d in Love_. Thus, Sir, it will happen to your poor _Polly_. _Mrs. Peachum_. What, is the Fool in Love in earnest then? I hate thee for being particular: Why, Wench, thou art a Shame to thy very Sex. _Polly_. But hear me, Mother.—If you ever lov’d— _Mrs. Peachum_. Those cursed Play-Books she reads have been her Ruin. One Word more, Hussy, and I shall knock your Brains out, if you have any. _Peachum_. Keep out of the way, _Polly_, for fear of Mischief, and consider of what is proposed to you. _Mrs. Peachum_. Away, Hussy. Hang your Husband, and be dutiful. [_Exit_ Polly. _Re-enter_ Polly, _and listens behind column_. _Mrs. Peachum_. The Thing, Husband, must and shall be done. For the sake of Intelligence we must take other measures, and have him peached the next Session without her Consent. If she will not know her Duty, we know ours. _Peachum_. But really, my Dear, it grieves one’s Heart to take off a great Man. When I consider his Personal Bravery, his fine Stratagem, how much we have already got by him, and how much more we may get, methinks I can’t find in my Heart to have a hand in his Death. I wish you could have made _Polly_ undertake it. _Mrs. Peachum_. But in a Case of Necessity—our own Lives are in danger. _Peachum_. Then, indeed, we must comply with the Customs of the World, and make Gratitude give way to Interest.—He shall be taken off. _Mrs. Peachum_. I’ll undertake to manage _Polly_. _Peachum_. And I’ll prepare Matters for the _Old-Baily_. [_Exeunt severally_.