HARDCASTLE: By the bye, I shall have to try your obedience this very evening. In fact, Kate, I expect the young gentleman I have chosen to be your husband, this very day; and my old friend his father, Sir Charles Marlow, soon after him. I shall not control your choice, but I am told that he is of an excellent understanding. KATE: Is he? HARDCASTLE: Very generous. KATE: I believe I shall like him. HARDCASTLE: Young and brave. KATE: I'm sure I shall like him. HARDCASTLE: And very handsome. KATE: Say no more; he's mine. HARDCASTLE: And, to crown all, he's one of the most reserved and bashful young fellows in the world. KATE: That word has undone all the rest, still I think I'll have him. (_Exit_ HARDCASTLE.) Reserved and sheepish. Can't he be cured? (_Enter_ MISS NEVILLE.) I'm glad you came, my dear. I am threatened with a lover, the son of Sir Charles Marlow. MISS NEVILLE: The most intimate friend of Mr. Hastings, my admirer; and such a character. Among ladies of reputation the modestest man alive, but with others---- MISS HARDCASTLE: And has my mother been courting you for my brother Tony, as usual? I could almost love him for hating you so. MISS NEVILLE: It is a good-natured creature at bottom, and I'm sure would wish to see me married to anyone but himself. [_Exeunt_. SCENE II.--_An alehouse_. TONY LUMPKIN _carousing with the village riff-raff_. MARLOW _and_ HASTINGS _arrive, and inquire the way to_ MR. HARDCASTLE'S _house_. TONY _tells them they cannot possibly reach the house that night, but directs them to it as an inn_. TONY: The old Buck's Head on the hill, one of the best inns in the whole county. But the landlord is rich and just going to leave off business; so he wants to be thought a gentleman, and will be for giving you his company. Ecod, he'll persuade you that his mother was an alderman, and his aunt a justice of the peace. I'll just step myself, and show you a piece of the way. [_Exeunt._ ACT II SCENE.--_The hall of_ HARDCASTLE'S _house_. MARLOW _and_ HASTINGS _have just arrived at the supposed inn, and the supposed innkeeper is paying hospitable attention to their belongings. Enter_ MARLOW _and_ HASTINGS. HASTINGS: Upon my word, a very well-looking house; antique, but creditable. MARLOW: The usual fate of a large mansion. Having just ruined the master by good housekeeping, it at last comes to levy contributions as an inn. HASTINGS: Good and bad, you have lived pretty much among them; and yet, with all your experience you have never acquired any show of assurance. How shall you behave to the lady you have come down to visit?