SCENE III.--_The Prado.

_Enter_ MINETTE, L.

_Min._ Ah, here comes the man at last, after I have been sauntering in sight of his lodgings these two hours. Now, if my scheme takes, what a happy person I shall be! and sure, as I was Donna Olivia to-day, to please my lady, I may be Donna Olivia tonight, to please myself. I'll address him as the maid of a lady who has taken a fancy to him, then convey him to our house--then retire, and then come in again, and, with a vast deal of confusion, confess I sent my maid for him. If he should dislike my forwardness, the censure will fall on my lady; if he should be pleased with my person, the advantage will be mine. But perhaps he's come here on some wicked frolic or other.--I'll watch him at a distance before I speak. [_Exit_, L. U. E.

_Enter_ DON JULIO, R.

_Julio._ Not here, 'faith; though she gave me last night but a faint refusal, and I had a right, by all the rules of gallantry, to construe that into an assent.--Then she's a jilt. Hang her, I feel I am uneasy--The first woman that ever gave me pain--I am ashamed to perceive that this spot has attractions for me, only because it was here I conversed with her. 'Twas here the little syren, conscious of her charms, unveiled her fascinating face----'Twas here--Ha!

_Enter_ DON GARCIA _and_ DON VINCENTIO, R. U. E.

_Gar._ Ha! Don Julio!

_Julio._ Pshaw! gentlemen, pray be quick.

_Gar._ (L.) 'Twas here that Julio, leaving champaigne untasted, and songs of gallantry unsung, came to talk to the whistling branches.

_Vin._ (R.) 'Twas here that Julio, flying from the young and gay, was found in doleful meditation--[_Altering his tone._]--on a wench, for a hundred ducats!

_Gar._ Who is she?

_Julio._ (C.) Not Donna Olivia, gentlemen; not Donna Olivia.

_Gar._ We have been seeking you, to ask the event of your visit to her.

_Julio._ The event has proved that you have been most grossly duped.

_Vin._ I know that--Ha! ha! ha!

_Julio._ And you likewise, _I_ know that--Ha! ha! ha!----The fair lady, so far from being a vixen, is the very essence of gentleness. To me, so much sweetness in a wife, would be downright mawkish.

_Vin._ Well, but she's fond of a Jew's-harp.

_Julio._ Detests it; she would be as fond of a Jew.

_Gar._ Pho, pho! this is a game at cross purposes;--let us all go to Don Cæsar's together, and compare opinions on the spot.

_Julio._ I'll go most willingly--But it will be only to cover you both with confusion, for being the two men in Spain most easily imposed on. [_All going_, R.

_Enter_ MINETTE, L.

_Min._ Gentlemen, my lady has sent me for one of you, pray which of you is it?

_Julio._ [_Returning._] Me, without doubt, child.

_Vin._ I don't know that.

_Gar._ Look at me, my dear; don't you think I am the man?

_Min._ Let me see--a good air, and well made--you are the man for a dancer. [_To_ GARCIA.]--Well dressed, and nicely put out of hands--you are the man for a bandbox. [_Crosses to_ VINCENTIO.]--Handsome and bold--you are the man for my lady. [_Crosses to_ JULIO.]

_Julio._ My dear little Iris, here's all the gold in my pocket. Gentlemen, I wish you a good night--I am your very obedient, humble-- [_Stalking by them, with his arm round_ MINETTE.

_Gar._ Pho! pr'ythee, don't be a fool. Are we not going to Donna Olivia?

_Julio._ Donna Olivia must wait, my dear boy; we can decide about her to-morrow. Come along, my little dove of Venus! [_Exit_, L.

_Gar._ What a rash fellow it is! ten to one but this is some common business, and he'll be robbed and murdered--they take him for a stranger.

_Vin._ Let's follow, and see where she leads him.

_Gar._ That's hardly fair: however, as I think there's danger, we will follow. [_Exit_, L.