LADY K.--What of Bulkeley, sir?
JOHN.--He has packed his things, and Cornet Kicklebury's things, my
lady.
MILLIKEN.--Let the fellow go.
JOHN.--He won't go, sir, till my lady have paid him his book and wages.
Here's the book, sir.
LADY K.--Insolence! quit my presence! And I, Mr. Milliken, will quit a
house--
JOHN.--Shall I call your ladyship a carriage?
LADY K.--Where I have met with rudeness, cruelty, and fiendish [to Miss
P., who smiles and curtsies]--yes, fiendish ingratitude. I will go, I
say, as soon as I have made arrangements for taking other lodgings. You
cannot expect a lady of fashion to turn out like a servant.
JOHN.--Hire the "Star and Garter" for her, sir. Send down to the
"Castle;" anything to get rid of her. I'll tell her maid to pack her
traps. Pinhorn! [Beckons maid and gives orders.]
TOUCHIT.--You had better go at once, my dear Lady Kicklebury.
LADY K.--Sir!
TOUCHIT.--THE OTHER MOTHER-IN-LAW IS COMING! I met her on the road with
all her family. He! he! he! [Screams.]
Enter Mrs. PRIOR and Children.
MRS. P.--My lady! I hope your ladyship is quite well! Dear, kind Mrs.
Bonnington! I came to pay my duty to you, ma'am. This is Charlotte, my
lady--the great girl whom your ladyship so kindly promised the gown for;
and this is my little girl, Mrs. Bonnington, ma'am, please; and this
is my Bluecoat boy. Go and speak to dear, kind Mr. Milliken--our best
friend and protector--the son and son-in-law of these dear ladies. Look,
sir! He has brought his copy to show you. [Boy shows copy.] Ain't it
creditable to a boy of his age, Captain Touchit? And my best and most
grateful services to you, sir. Julia, Julia, my dear, where's your cap
and spectacles, you stupid thing? You've let your hair drop down. What!
what!--[Begins to be puzzled.]
MRS. B.--Is this collusion, madam?
MRS. P.--Collusion, dear Mrs. Bonnington!
LADY K.--Or insolence, Mrs. Prior!
MRS. P.--Insolence, your ladyship! What--what is it? what has happened?
What's Julia's hair down for? Ah! you've not sent the poor girl away?
the poor, poor child, and the poor, poor children!
TOUCHIT.--That dancing at the "Coburg" has come out, Mrs. Prior.
MRS. P.--Not the darling's fault. It was to help her poor father in
prison. It was I who forced her to do it. Oh! don't, don't, dear Lady
Kicklebury, take the bread out of the mouths of these poor orphans!
[Crying.]
MILLIKEN.--Enough of this, Mrs. Prior: your daughter is not going away.
Julia has promised to stay with me--and--never to leave me--as governess
no longer, but as wife to me.
MRS. P.--Is it--is it true, Julia?
MISS P.--Yes, mamma.
MRS. P.--Oh! oh! oh! [Flings down her umbrella, kisses JULIA, and
running to MILLIKEN,] My son, my son! Come here, children. Come,
Adolphus, Amelia, Charlotte--kiss your dear brother, children. What, my
dears! How do you do, dears? [to MILLIKEN'S children]. Have they heard
the news? And do you know that my daughter is going to be your mamma?
There--there--go and play with your little uncles and aunts, that's good
children! [She motions off the Children, who retire towards garden. Her
manner changes to one of great patronage and intense satisfaction.] Most
hot weather, your ladyship, I'm sure. Mr. Bonnington, you must find
it hot weather for preachin'! Lor'! there's that little wretch beatin'
Adolphus! George, sir! have done, sir! [Runs to separate them.] How ever
shall we make those children agree, Julia?
MISS P.--They have been a little spoiled, and I think Mr. Milliken will
send George and Arabella to school, mamma: will you not, Horace?
MR. MILLIKEN.--I think school will be the very best thing for them.
MRS. P.--And [Mrs. P. whispers, pointing to her own children] the blue
room, the green room, the rooms old Lady Kick has--plenty of room for
us, my dear!
MISS P.--No, mamma, I think it will be too large a party,--Mr. Milliken
has often said that he would like to go abroad, and I hope that now he
will be able to make his tour.
MRS. P.--Oh, then! we can live in the house, you know: what's the use of
payin' lodgin', my dear?
MISS P.--The house is going to be painted. You had best live in your own
house, mamma; and if you want anything, Horace, Mr. Milliken, I am sure,
will make it comfortable for you. He has had too many visitors of late,
and will like a more quiet life, I think. Will you not?
MILLIKEN.--I shall like a life with YOU, Julia.
JOHN.--Cab, sir, for her ladyship!
LADY K.--This instant let me go! Call my people. Clarence, your arm!
Bulkeley, Pinhorn! Mrs. Bonnington, I wish you good-morning! Arabella,
angel! [looks at picture] I leave you. I shall come to you ere long.
[Exit, refusing MILLIKEN's hand, passes up garden, with her servants
following her. MARY and other servants of the house are collected
together, whom Lady K. waves off. Bluecoat boy on wall eating plums.
Page, as she goes, cries, Hurray, hurray! Bluecoat boy cries, Hurray!
When Lady K. is gone, JOHN advances.]
JOHN.--I think I heard you say, sir, that it was your intention to go
abroad?
MILLIKEN.--Yes; oh, yes! Are we going abroad, my Julia?
MISS P.--To settle matters, to have the house painted, and clear
[pointing to children, mother, &c.] Don't you think it is the best thing
that we can do?
MILLIKEN.--Surely, surely: we are going abroad. Howell, you will come
with us of course, and with your experiences you will make a capital
courier. Won't Howell make a capital courier, Julia? Good honest fellow,
John Howell. Beg your pardon for being so rude to you just now. But my
temper is very hot, very.
JOHN [laughing].--You are a Tartar, sir. Such a tyrant! isn't he, ma'am?
MISS P.--Well, no; I don't think you have a very bad temper, Mr.
Milliken, a--Horace.
JOHN.--You must--take care of him--alone, Miss Prior--Julia--I mean Mrs.
Milliken. Man and boy I've waited on him this fifteen year: with the
exception of that trial at the printing-office, which--which I won't
talk of NOW, madam. I never knew him angry; though many a time I have
known him provoked. I never knew him say a hard word, though sometimes
perhaps we've deserved it. Not often--such a good master as that is
pretty sure of getting a good servant--that is, if a man has a heart in
his bosom; and these things are found both in and out of livery. Yes, I
have been a honest servant to him,--haven't I, Mr. Milliken?
MILLIKEN.--Indeed, yes, John.
JOHN.--And so has Mary Barlow. Mary, my dear! [Mary comes forward.] Will
you allow me to introduce you, sir, to the futur' Mrs. Howell?--if Mr.
Bonnington does YOUR little business for you, as I dare say [turning to
Mr. B.], hold gov'nor, you will!--Make it up with your poor son, Mrs.
Bonnington, ma'am. You have took a second 'elpmate, why shouldn't Master
Horace? [to Mrs. B.] He--he wants somebody to help him, and take care of
him, more than you do.
TOUCHIT.--You never spoke a truer word in your life, Howell.
JOHN.--It's my general 'abit, Capting, to indulge in them sort of
statements. A true friend I have been to my master, and a true friend
I'll remain when he's my master no more.
MILLIKEN.--Why, John, you are not going to leave me?
JOHN.--It's best, sir, I should go. I--I'm not fit to be a servant in
this house any longer. I wish to sit in my own little home, with my own
little wife by my side. Poor dear! you've no conversation, Mary, but
you're a good little soul. We've saved a hundred pound apiece, and if
we want more, I know who won't grudge it us, a good fellow--a good
master--for whom I've saved many a hundred pound myself, and will take
the "Milliken Arms" at old Pigeoncot--and once a year or so, at this
hanniversary, we will pay our respects to you, sir, and madam. Perhaps
we will bring some children with us, perhaps we will find some more in
this villa. Bless 'em beforehand! Good-by, sir, and madam--come away,
Mary! [going].
MRS. P. [entering with clothes, &c.]--She has not left a single thing
in her room. Amelia, come here! this cloak will do capital for you, and
this--this garment is the very thing for Adolphus. Oh, John! eh,
Howell! will you please to see that my children have something to eat,
immediately! The Milliken children, I suppose, have dined already?
JOHN.--Yes, ma'am; certainly, ma'am.
MRS. P.--I see he is inclined to be civil to me NOW!
MISS P.--John Howell is about to leave us, mamma. He is engaged to Mary
Barlow, and when we go away, he is going to set up housekeeping for
himself. Good-by, and thank you, John Howell [gives her hand to JOHN,
but with great reserve of manner]. You have been a kind and true
friend to us--if ever we can serve you, count upon us--may he not, Mr.
Milliken?
MILLIKEN.--Always, always.
MISS P.--But you will still wait upon us--upon Mr. Milliken, for a day
or two, won't you, John, until we--until Mr. Milliken has found some
one to replace you. He will never find any one more honest than you, and
good, kind little Mary. Thank you, Mary, for your goodness to the poor
governess.
MARY.--Oh miss! oh mum! [Miss P. kisses Mary patronizingly].
MISS P. [to JOHN].--And after they have had some refreshment, get a cab
for my brothers and sister, if you please, John. Don't you think that
will be best, my--my dear?
MILLIKEN.--Of course, of course, dear Julia!
MISS P.--And, Captain Touchit, you will stay, I hope, and dine with Mr.
Milliken? And, Mrs. Bonnington, if you will receive as a daughter one
who has always had a sincere regard for you, I think you will aid in
making your son happy, as I promise you with all my heart and all my
life to endeavor to do. [Miss P. and M. go up to Mrs. BONNINGTON.]
MRS. BONNINGTON.--Well, there, then, since it must be so, bless you, my
children.
TOUCHIT.--Spoken like a sensible woman! And now, as I do not wish to
interrupt this felicity, I will go and dine at the "Star and Garter."
MISS P.--My dear Captain Touchit, not for worlds! Don't you know I
mustn't be alone with Mr. Milliken until--until--?
MILLIKEN.--Until I am made the happiest man alive! and you will come
down and see us often, Touchit, won't you? And we hope to see our
friends here often. And we will have a little life and spirit and gayety
in the place. Oh, mother! oh, George! oh, Julia! what a comfort it is
to me to think that I am released from the tyranny of that terrible
mother-in-law!
MRS. PRIOR.--Come in to your teas, children. Come this moment, I
say. [The Children pass quarrelling behind the characters, Mrs. PRIOR
summoning them; JOHN and MARY standing on each side of the dining-room
door, as the curtain falls.]