Mrs. _Lov_. Here do I follow and caress my Lady, in hopes to steal a Spark
'mongst her Admirers; I have five hundred Pounds in the fourteen _per
Cent_, a Gentlewoman's Fortune in past Ages, but now 'twon't buy a
Haberdasher of small Ware. Sir _Harry_ offers me a genteel Settlement;
Time was, when a kept Madam elbow'd the whole Drawing-Room; but now we
have a virtuous Court agen, a Lord's Mistress is almost as despicable as a
Citizen's Wife.--Suppose I trick the Collonel into Marriage--To bridle at
a Review in _Hyde-Park_, have rich Plunder brought me from _Flanders_, and
boast in Company how much my Husband ballances the Pow'r of _Europe_; but
then comes Peace, and Half-pay, and the Brigadier's Lady must condescend
to dress Heads, make Mantoes, or vainly feed her Pride, by personating
what she really was on the most renown'd _Drury-Lane Theatre_.--Suppose I
rail at the Government, and so trap the rich Major; but then he's trapt in
a Plot, some poor Lord begs his Estate, and I'm to live upon the mighty
Comfort of having it again when the Pretender comes--Or what if I wheedle
in with Mr. _Nick-nack_--To have a fine House in _Billiter-Lane_,
prodigious great Dinners, and ready Cash for Play. And, faith, now-a-days,
a rich Merchant's Wife keeps as late Hours, Games as high, and makes as
bulky a Figure as e'er a Dutchess in the two united Kingdoms.
_Enter Sir_ Harry.
Sir _Har_. How kind this was, my dear, pretty Mrs. _Lovejoy_, to leave so
much good Company to meet me here alone.
Mrs. _Lov_. How kind you are to your self Sir _Harry_, in harbouring so
ridiculous a Notion.
Sir _Har_. Are you resolv'd then, Madam, to let this gay, this proper
well-set Person o' mine pine away like a green Sickness Girl, when I have
so generously offer'd you two hundred Pound a Year, only to be a little
whimsical with you.
Mrs. _Lov_. Two hundred a year! wou'd you make a Whore of me Sir _Harry_?
Sir _Har_. A Whore! have a care, Child, who you reflect upon, a Lady of
two hundred a Year, a Whore; Whores are Creatures that wear Pattens and
Straw-hats. I'd fain hear any body call a kept Mistress, Whore, while
there's Law to be had, if I were she, I'd make 'em severely pay for't.
Mrs. _Lov_. But pray, Sir _Harry_, where's the Difference between a common
Woman, and one that's kept; they have equally lost their Reputation, and
no body of any Character will visit 'em.
Sir _Har_. Visit 'em! Ladies of different Orders shou'd converse amongst
themselves, I know a Set of kept Mistresses that visit one another with
all the Ceremony of Countesses, take place of one another according to the
Degree of their Keepers, are call'd to one another's Labours, and live in
perfect Sister-hood like the _Grand Seignor's Seraglio_; two of 'em indeed
had a violent Quarrel t'other day, but 'twas only about State Affairs, one
happening to be a Whig, and t'other a Tory.
Mrs. _Lov_. Good Sir _Harry_, what have you seen so loose in my Behaviour
to attack me at this rate?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account