CHARLOTTE
Lud! Letitia, is that so extraordinary? Why, my
dear, I hope you are not going to turn sentimentalist.
Scandal, you know, is but amusing ourselves with the
faults, foibles, follies, and reputations of our friends;
indeed, I don't know why we should have friends, if
we are not at liberty to make use of them. But no
person is so ignorant of the world as to suppose, be-
cause I amuse myself with a lady's faults, that I am
obliged to quarrel with her person every time we
meet: believe me, my dear, we should have very few
acquaintance at that rate.
SERVANT enters and delivers a letter to CHAR-
LOTTE, and--[Exit.
CHARLOTTE
You'll excuse me, my dear.
[Opens and reads to herself.
LETITIA
Oh, quite excusable.
CHARLOTTE
As I hope to be married, my brother Henry is in
the city.
LETITIA
What, your brother, Colonel Manly?
CHARLOTTE
Yes, my dear; the only brother I have in the world.
LETITIA
Was he never in this city?
CHARLOTTE
Never nearer than Harlem Heights, where he lay
with his regiment.
LETITIA
What sort of a being is this brother of yours? If
he is as chatty, as pretty, as sprightly as you, half the
belles in the city will be pulling caps for him.
CHARLOTTE
My brother is the very counterpart and reverse of
me: I am gay, he is grave; I am airy, he is solid; I
am ever selecting the most pleasing objects for my
laughter, he has a tear for every pitiful one.
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