ROSE. Captain Armstrong.--Goodness gracious!
CLEVELAND. Hear me out. A pretended chaplain will be by, and a sham
form of marriage will be gone through with--
ROSE. Only in jest? Why, what a funny joke!
CLEVELAND. Capital! capital! Ha! ha! ha!
ROSE. Ha! ha! ha! A splendid joke, sir. But I don't quite understand
it.
CLEVELAND. Oh, you understand enough. You must not speak above the
lowest whisper, nor let the Captain see your features. A few words and
the--the--ha, ha, ha--the joke is through with--
ROSE. I see--I see.
CLEVELAND. And then to-morrow when he comes to know it--don't you
see--we will have a run on the Captain--'twill be the rarest sport
when found out.
ROSE. But suppose now it should turn out to be a real no-mistake
marriage.
CLEVELAND. But it can't. The priest is a sham--that's the point of the
joke.
ROSE. That's the point of the joke, eh?
CLEVELAND. Come, will you do it?
ROSE. Well--I am doubtful.
CLEVELAND. Only carry it out well, and you shall have fifty pounds.
ROSE. I am convinced, as old intrigues are dull, I want pastime, and
would like to earn fifty pounds, and if my chances in other quarters
are uninjured, why--
CLEVELAND. You will do it?
ROSE. Will the Captain think it a jest?
CLEVELAND. He thinks there is a plan on foot to introduce your
mistress to him for a similar purpose.
ROSE. And when he finds that he has married plain Bridget instead of
Miss Rose--what a rage he will be in! Oh, what a delightful jest--
CLEVELAND.
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