k mildly to him. Cautions are best.

_Bev._ I'll think on't--But whither go you?

_Stu._ From poverty and prisons--No matter whither. If fortune
changes you may hear from me.

_Bev._ May these be prosperous then. (_Offering the notes, which he
refuses_) Nay, they are yours; I have sworn it, and will have
nothing. Take them and use them.

_Stu._ Singly I will not. My cares are for my friend; for his lost
fortune, and ruined family. All separate interests I disclaim.
Together we have fallen; together we must rise. My heart, my honour,
both will have it so.

_Bev._ I am weary of being fooled.

_Stu._ And so am I. Here let us part then. These bodings of
good-fortune shall be stifled; I'll call them folly, and forget
them. This one embrace, and then farewel.
[_Offering to embrace._

_Bev._ No; stay a moment--How my poor heart's distracted! I have
these bodings too; but whether caught from You, or prompted by my
good or evil genius, I know not--The trial shall determine--And yet,
my wife--

_Stu._ Ay, ay, she'll chide.

_Bev._ No; My chidings are all here.
[_Pointing to his heart._

_Stu._ I'll not persuade you.

_Bev._ I _am_ persuaded; by reason too; the strongest reason--necessity.
Oh! could I once regain the height I have fallen from, heaven should
forsake me in my latest hour, if I again mixed in these scenes, or
sacrificed the husband's peace, his joy and best affections to
avarice and infamy!

_Stu._ I have resolved like You; and since our motives are so
honest, why should we fear success?

_Bev._ Come on then. Where shall we meet?

_Stu_, At Wilson's--Yet if it hurts you, leave me: I have misled you
often.

_Bev._ We have misled each other--But come! Fortune is fickle, and
may be tired with plaguing us. There let us rest our hopes.

_Stu._ Yet think a little.

_Bev._ I cannot--Thinking but distracts me.

_When desperation leads, all thoughts are vain;_
_Reason would lose, what rashness may obtain._

[_Exeunt._

SCENE III. __BEVERLEY'S_ lodgings.
Enter Mrs. BEVERLEY, and CHARLOTTE._

_Char._ 'Twas all a scheme, a mean one; unworthy of my brother.

_Mrs. Bev._ No, I am sure it was not. Stukely is honest too; I know
he is. This madness has undone them both.

_Char._ My brother irrecoverably. You are too spiritless a wife--A
mournful tale, mixt with a few kind words, will steal away your
soul. The world's too subtle for such goodness. Had I been by, he
should have asked you