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SCENE I] THE DOUBLE-DEALER 137<br />
Lady Ply. Inhuman and treacherous—<br />
Sir Paul. Thou serpent and first tempter of womankind!<br />
Cyn. Bless me, sir!—madam, what mean you!<br />
Sir Paul. Thy, Thy, come away, Thy! touch him not.<br />
Come hither, girl, go not near him; snakes are in his<br />
peruke, and the crocodile of Nilus in his belly; he will eat<br />
thee up alive.<br />
Lady Ply. Dishonourable, impudent creature!<br />
Mel. For Heaven's sake, madam, to whom do you direct<br />
this language?<br />
Lady Ply. Have I behaved myself with all the decorum<br />
and nicety befitting the person of Sir Paul's wife? have I<br />
preserved my honour as it were in a snow-house for these<br />
three years past? have I been white and unsullied even by<br />
Sir Paul himself?<br />
Sir Paul. Nay, she has been an invincible wife, even to<br />
me; that's the truth on't.<br />
Lady Ply. Have I, I say, preserved myself like a fair sheet<br />
of paper, for you to make a blot upon?<br />
Sir Paul. And she shall make a simile with any woman<br />
in England.<br />
Mel. I am so amazed, I know not what to say.<br />
Sir Paul. Do you think, my daughter, this pretty creature<br />
—gadsbud; she's a wife for a cherubim!—do you think her<br />
fit for nothing but to be a stalking-horse to stand before you,<br />
while you take aim at my wife? Gadsbud, I was never<br />
angry before in my life, and I'll never be appeased again!<br />
Mel. {Aside.} Hell and damnation! this is my aunt; such<br />
malice can be engendered nowhere else.<br />
Lady Ply. Sir Paul, take Cynthia from his sight; leave<br />
me to strike him with the remorse of his intended crime.<br />
Cyn. Pray, sir, stay, hear him; I dare affirm he's innocent.<br />
Sir Paul. Innocent! why hark'ye, come hither, Thy,<br />
hark'ye, I had it from his aunt, my sister Touchwood.—<br />
Gadsbud, he does not care a farthing for anything of thee<br />
but thy portion: why, he's in love with my wife; he would<br />
have tantalised thee, and made a cuckold of thy poor father;<br />
and that would certainly have broken my heart.—I'm sure<br />
if ever I should have horns, they would kill me; they would<br />
never come kindly, I should die of 'em, like a child that<br />
was cutting his teeth; I should, indeed, Thy;—therefore<br />
come away; but Providence has prevented all, therefore<br />
come away when I bid you.
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