_Isid._ Anselmo! (_More loudly_) Anselmo! (_Shrieks. Throws herself on the body. The rest of the characters group round the body, and the curtain falls._)
_Scene.--The Hall, the residence of Sir Gilbert, and the vicinity. Time that of acting._
_A Room in a respectable country inn.--Enter Captain Etheridge and Captain Mertoun, ushered in by the Landlord._
_Land._ Will you be pleased to take anything, gentlemen?
_Capt. Eth._ I can answer for myself, nothing.
_Capt. Mer._ I agree, and disagree, with you; that is, I coincide with you in--nothing.
_Capt. Eth._ Then I trust, Mr Harness, that you will coincide with us in expediting the greasing of that radical wheel as soon as possible, and let us know when the horses are put to.
_Land._ Most certainly, Captain Etheridge; I will superintend it myself. [_Exit Landlord._
_Capt. Eth._ An old butler of my father's, who set up many years ago with a few hundred pounds, and the Etheridge Arms as a sign. He has done well.
_Capt. Mer._ That is to say, the Etheridge Arms have put him on his legs, and drawing corks for your father has enabled him to draw beer for himself and his customers. Of course he married the lady's maid.
_Capt. Eth._ No, he did more wisely; he married the cook.
_Capt. Mer._ With a good fat portion of kitchen stuff, and a life interest of culinary knowledge. I have no doubt but that he had a further benefit from your liberal father and mother.
_Capt. Eth._ By-the-bye, I have spoken to you of my father repeatedly, Edward; but you have not yet heard any remarks relative to my mother.
_Capt. Mer._ I take it for granted, from your report of your father, and my knowledge (_bowing_) of the offspring, that she must be equally amiable.
_Capt. Eth._ Had she been so, I should not have been silent; but as I have no secrets from you, I must say, she is not the--the very paragon of perfection.
_Capt. Eth._ My father, disgusted with the matrimonial traps that were set for the post-captain, and baronet of ten thousand a year, resolved, as he imagined wisely, to marry a woman in inferior life; who, having no pretensions of her own, would be humble and domestic. He chose one of his tenant's daughters, who was demure to an excess. The soft paw of the cat conceals her talons. My mother turned out the very antipodes of his expectations.