_Capt. Eth._ I grant this; but the change may have taken place without the knowledge of your mother.
_Lucy._ It is possible, but barely possible, who but a foolish mother, blinded by partiality, would ever have been guilty of an act which never could benefit herself?
_Capt. Eth._ You are not well acquainted with the knavery of the world. To prove a fact like this, in a court of justice, would, in most instances, be rewarded liberally. Your brother, for instance, seems to view the affair in a very different light.
_Lucy._ Captain Etheridge, I can honestly assert, that the rumour has occasioned to me the greatest uneasiness; and were it to prove true, I should be still more unhappy.
_Capt. Eth._ I cannot understand you. You would find yourself raised to a position in society which you did not expect; courted by those who at present disregard you, and moving in a circle to which, I must say, your beauty and your other natural gifts would contribute to adorn.
_Lucy._ Do not flatter me. I have a great dislike to it. I am, I trust, satisfied in my present situation; and, were I weak enough to indulge a transient feeling of vanity, the reminiscence which would instantly intrude, that my advancement was founded on the misery of those I love better than myself, would render it a source of deep and unceasing regret.
_Capt. Eth._ Those you love better than yourself, Lucy; who are they?
_Lucy_ (_confused_). I referred to your sister Agnes, and to your father.
_Capt. Eth._ O, not to me!--then I am an _exclusion_.
_Lucy._ My gratitude to your father for his kindness, and our intimacy from childhood, ought to assure you, Captain Etheridge, that----I must ever wish for your happiness.
_Capt. Eth._ But suppose, my dear Lucy, this should prove to be true.
_Lucy._ I have already stated my sentiments.
_Capt. Eth._ You have, Lucy, generally, and much to your honour; but I am just putting the case for my amusement. Suppose it were proved true, you would not look down upon me as the child of your inferiors?
_Lucy._ Captain Etheridge, the very observation, for your amusement, is both ungenerous and unkind. I acknowledge our present inferiority, but not perhaps to the extent which would be exacted from your family. But oblige me by not carrying your suppositions any further. (_Tremulously._) I am not very happy--as it is.