_) "Ladies and Gentlemen, will you step into the
neighbouring apartment, and join the dancers?" (_The Guests obey. The_
Elderly Man _enters, and denounces_ JASPER, _who mendaciously declares
that he is his own second cousin_ JOSEPH; _whereupon the visitor
turns down his coat-collar, and takes off a false beard._) "Do you
know me now, JASPER SHOPPUN?" he cries. "_I_ am JOSEPH--your second
cousin!"... "What, ho, Sir Insolence!" the Villain retorts. "And so
you come to deliver me to Justice?"... "Not so," says JOSEPH. "Long
years ago I swore to my dying Aunt to protect your reputation, even
at the expense of my own. I come to warn you that"--&c., &c. (_The
Audience, who are now in excellent spirits, receive every incident
with uncontrollable merriment till the end of the Act. Another long
wait, enlivened by a piccolo solo._)
_Author._ LAVINIA, it's _too_ disgraceful--it's a deliberate
conspiracy to turn the piece into ridicule. I never thought my _own
relations_ would turn against me--and yet I might have known!
_Comp._ It wasn't the _play_ they laughed at, dear--that's lovely--but
it's so ridiculously _acted_, you know!
_Author.
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