He will be the death of me!
LA M. Where could you get all this dirt?
ER. Do you intend to keep that hat forever?
LA M. It is finished.
ER. Give it me, then.
LA M. (_Letting the hat fall_). Ah!
ER. There it is on the ground. I am not much the better for all your
brushing! Plague take you!
LA M. Let me give it a couple of rubs to take off...
ER. You shall not. The deuce take every servant who dogs your heels, who
wearies his master, and does nothing but annoy him by wanting to set
himself up as indispensable!
SCENE II.--ORPHISE, ALCIDOR, ERASTE, LA MONTAGNE.
(_Orphise passes at the foot of the stage; Alcidor holds her hand._)
ER. But do I not see Orphise? Yes, it is she who comes. Whither goeth
she so fast, and what man is that who holds her hand? (_He bows to her
as she passes, and she turns her head another way_).
SCENE III.--ERASTE, LA MONTAGNE.
ER. What! She sees me here before her, and she passes by, pretending not
to know me! What can I think? What do you say? Speak if you will.
LA M. Sir, I say nothing, lest I bore you.
ER. And so indeed you do, if you say nothing to me whilst I suffer such
a cruel martyrdom.
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