VALENTINE, SCANDAL.

SCAN. He begs pardon like a hangman at an execution.

VAL. But I have got a reprieve.

SCAN. I am surprised; what, does your father relent?

VAL. No; he has sent me the hardest conditions in the world. You
have heard of a booby brother of mine that was sent to sea three
years ago? This brother, my father hears, is landed; whereupon he
very affectionately sends me word; if I will make a deed of
conveyance of my right to his estate, after his death, to my younger
brother, he will immediately furnish me with four thousand pounds to
pay my debts and make my fortune. This was once proposed before,
and I refused it; but the present impatience of my creditors for
their money, and my own impatience of confinement, and absence from
Angelica, force me to consent.

SCAN. A very desperate demonstration of your love to Angelica; and
I think she has never given you any assurance of hers.

VAL. You know her temper; she never gave me any great reason either
for hope or despair.

SCAN. Women of her airy temper, as they seldom think before they
act, so they rarely give us any light to guess at what they mean.
But you have little reason to believe that a woman of this age, who
has had an indifference for you in your prosperity, will fall in
love with your ill-fortune; besides, Angelica has a great fortune of