_Char._ The devil it is! Zounds! I shall never be able to show my face--this will never do--my boasted disdain of ever bowing to the power of love--how ridiculous will it now render me--while the mystery and sacred secrecy of this attachment constituted the chief delight it gave to the refinement of my feelings--O! I'll off to sea again--I won't stay here--order a post-chaise--no--yes--a chaise and four, d'ye hear? _Pon._ Yes, sir; but I'm thinking-- _Char._ What? _Pon._ That it is possible you may alter your mind. _Char._ No such thing, sir; I'll set off this moment; order the chaise, I say. _Pon._ Think of it again, sir. _Char._ Will you obey my orders, or not? _Pon._ I think I will. (_aside_) Poor gentleman! now could I blow him up into a blaze in a minute, by telling him that his mistress is just on the point of marriage with his cousin, but though they say "ill news travels apace," they shall never say that I rode postillion on the occasion. [_Exit into inn._ _Char._ Here's a discovery! all my delicate management destroyed! known all over the country! I'm off! and yet to have travelled so far, and not to have one glimpse of her! but then to be pointed at as a poor devil in love, a silly inconsistent boaster! no, that wont do--but then I may see her--yes, I'll see her once--just once--for three minutes, or three minutes and a half at most--no longer positively--Ponder, Ponder! (_enter Ponder_) Ponder, I say-- _Pon._ I wish you wouldn't interrupt me, for I'm thinking-- _Char._ Damn your thinking, sir! _Pon._ I was only thinking that you may have altered your mind already. _Char._ I have not altered my mind: but since I _am_ here, I should be wanting in duty not to pay my respects to my father; so march on with the trunk, sir. _Pon._ Yes, sir: but if that's all you want to do, sir, you may spare yourself the trouble of going further, for, most fortunately, here he comes; and your noble cousin, lord Austencourt, with him-- _Char._ The devil! _Pon._ Yes, sir; the devil, and his uncle, your father, if I may be allowed the expression. [_Exit._ _Enter_ sir Rowland _and_ lord Austencourt. _Char._ My dear father, I am heartily glad to see you-- _Sir R._ How is this, Charles! returned thus unexpectedly? _Char._ Unexpected pleasure, they say, sir, is always most welcome--I hope you find it so. _Sir R._ This conduct, youngster, requires explanation. _Char._ Sir, I have it ready at my tongue's end--My lord, I ask your pardon--I'm glad to see you too. _Lord A._ I wish, sir, I could return the compliment; but this extraordinary conduct-- _Char._ No apologies, my lord, for your civil speech--you might easily have returned the compliment in the same words, and, believe me, with as much sincerity as it was offered. _Sir R._ This is no time for dissention, sir-- _Lord A._ My cousin forgets, sir Rowland, that although united by ties of consanguinity, _birth_ and _fortune_ have placed me in a station which commands some respect.