The Gamester (1753)

_Mrs. Beverley._ Be comforted, my dear; all may be well yet. And now, methinks, the lodgings begin to look with another face. O sister! sister! if these were all my hardships; i...

_Jar._ I have forgot these apartments too. I remember none such in my young master's house; and yet I have lived in't these five and twenty years. His good father would not have...

_Stu._ You have asked me that question before, madam; and I told you my concern was that I could not save him. Mr. Beverley is a man, madam; and if the most friendly entreaties...

_Char._ What a heart has that Jarvis!--A creditor, sister. But the good old man has taken him away. Don't distress his wife! Don't distress his sister! I could hear him say. 'Ti...

_Stu._ But not for Me, Sir. I am slow of apprehension, and must have time and privacy. A lady's presence engages my attention. Another morning I may be found at home.

_Lew._ There are trifles, madam, which you have set a value on: those I have purchased, and will deliver. I have a friend too that esteems you; he has bought largely, and will c...

_Stu._ That Lewson suspects me, 'tis too plain. Yet why should he suspect me? I appear the friend of Beverley as well as he. But I am rich it seems: and so I am; thanks to anoth...

_Bates._ No matter for manners and looks: do You supply them with money, and they are gentlemen by profession. The passion of gaming casts such a mist before the eyes, that the...

_Beverley_. Why, what a world is this! The slave that digs for gold, receives his daily pittance, and sleeps contented; while those, for whom he labours, convert their good to m...

_Bev._ Well, shew him in. (_Exit Waiter._) A messenger from Stukely then. From Him that has undone me! Yet all in friendship; and now he lends me from his little, to bring back...

_Jar._ Yes, Sir; to lead you from this place. I am your servant still. Your prosperous fortune blessed my old age. If That has left you, I must not leave you.

_Stu._ Or turned hermit; counting a string of beads in a dark cave; or under a weeping willow, praying for mercy on the wicked. Ha! ha! ha! Prithee be a man, and leave dying to...

Look to your men, Bates; there's money stirring. We meet to-night upon this spot. Hasten and tell them so. Beverley calls upon me at my lodgings, and we return together. Hasten,...

_Char._ To tell me I'm a beggar. Why, tell it now. I that can bear the ruin of those dearer to me, the ruin of a sister and her infant, can bear that too.

_Mrs. Bev._ But we meet now, and that heals all. Doubts and alarms I have had; but in this dear embrace I bury and forget them. My friend here (_pointing to Lewson_) has been in...

Let your haste to see me be the only proof of your esteem for me. I have determined, since we parted, to bid adieu to England; chusing rather to forsake my country, than to owe...

_Stukely_. So runs the world, Bates. Fools are the natural prey of knaves; nature designed them so, when she made lambs for wolves. The laws that fear and policy have framed, na...

_Stu._ No. I should tempt you on. Habit is nature in me; ruin can't cure it. Even now I would be gaming. Taught by experience as I am, and knowing this poor sum is all that's le...

_Char._ My brother irrecoverably. You are too spiritless a wife--A mournful tale, mixt with a few kind words, will steal away your soul. The world's too subtle for such goodness...

_Lew._ 'Tis best to interrupt you then. Few characters will bear a scrutiny; and where the bad out-weighs the good, he's safest that's least talked of. What say you, madam? [_To...

_Bev._ Ay; I'll tell you of this friend. He found me happiest of the happy; fortune and honour crowned me; and love and peace lived in my heart. One spark of folly lurked there;...

_Mrs. Bev._ No, my kind girl; I was not born for't. But why do I distress thee? Thy sympathizing heart bleeds for the ills of others. What pity that thy mistress can't reward th...

_Mrs. Bev._ Do so, and ease me. Your hints have troubled me. Reports, you say, are stirring--Reports of whom? You wished me not to credit them. What, Sir, are these reports?

_Lew._ And why not now? By heaven, the veriest worm that crawls is made of braver spirit than this Stukely. Yet for my promise, I'll deal gently with him. I mean to watch his lo...

_Mrs. Bev._ O, villain! villain! 'twas this he threatened then. Run to that den of robbers, Wilson's--Your master may be there. Entreat him home, good Jarvis. Say I have busines...

_Stu._ Fooling my time away: playing my tricks, like a tame monkey, to entertain a woman--No matter where-- I have been vext and disappointed. Tell me of Beverley. How bore he h...

_Lew._ To tell you that I know you--Why this confusion? That look of guilt and terror? Is Beverley awake? Or has his wife told tales? The man that dares like You, should have a...

_Stu._ Thus fools talk ever; spending their idle breath on what is past; and trembling at the future. We must be active. Beverley, at worst, is but suspicious; but Lewson's geni...

_Bev._ How like an out-cast do I wander! Loaded with every curse, that drives the soul to desperation! The midnight robber, as he walks his rounds, sees by the glimmering lamp m...

_Bev._ Discoveries are made, Sir, that You shall tremble at. Where is this boasted spirit? this high demeanour, that was to call me to account? You say I have wronged my sister-...

_Bev._ (_Starting._) What fellow's that? (_Seeing Jarvis_). Art thou a murderer, friend? Come, lead the way; I have a hand as mischievous as thine; a heart as desperate too--Jar...

_Stu._ Come hither, Dawson. My limbs are on the rack, and my soul shivers in me, till this night's business be complete. Tell me thy thoughts: is Bates determined? or does he wa...

_Bates._ That the watch found him in their rounds, and alarmed the servants. I mingled with the crowd just now, and saw him dead in his own house. The sight terrified me.

_Mrs. Bev._ I have no life in this separation. O! what a night was last night! I would not pass another such, to purchase worlds by it. My poor Beverley too! What must He have f...

_Jar._ His mind too shall be well; all shalt be well--I have news for him that shall make his poor heart bound again!--Fie upon old age! how childish it makes me! I have a tale...

_Stu._ Here's presumptive evidence at least: or if we want more, why, we must swear more. But all unwillingly: we gain credit by reluctance. I have told you how to proceed. Beve...

_Bev._ Why, there's an end then. I have judged deliberately, and the result is death. How the self-murderer's account may stand, I know not. But this I know; the load of hateful...

_Mrs. Bev._ Where is he? (_Runs and embraces him_) O, I have him! I have him! And now they shall never part us more! I have news, love, to make you happy for ever--but don't loo...

_Stu._ To give You liberty and safety. There's his discharge, madam. (_Giving a paper to Mrs. Beverley_) Let him begone this moment. The arrest last night was meant in friendshi...

_Lew._ While shame and punishment shall rack that viper. (_Pointing to Stukely_) The tale is short. I was too busy in his secrets, and therefore doomed to die. Bates, to prevent...