Setting: London.
Act One
Scene 1: Ante-chamber to Sir Frederick Frolick’s bedchamber. Frolick’s French manservant Dufoy enters with a plaster on his head, followed by Beaufort’s Clerk. Dufoy is in a bad mood and threatens to leave England forever: last night he recommended that Frolick go to bed but Frolick was drunk and struck him over the head. The Clerk sympathises but ultimately just wants to see Frolick.
Scene 2: Frolick’s bedchamber. Dufoy enters and complains about his head to Frolick, who is in bed. Frolick expresses some apology after being pressed, and offers to pay for the plaster; Dufoy is not really mollified, but announces the Clerk. Frolick considers that drunkenness is not so wrong: “I am of opinion tħat drunkenness is not so / Damnable a sin to me as ’tis to many; Sorrow / And Repentance are sure to be my first Work / The next morning.” The Clerk’s message is brief, letting Frolick know that Beaufort (his cousin) will call on him later. He leaves, and Dufoy tells Frolick of all the people who have besieged the house after his drunken night. Frolick tells Dufoy to dismiss them all, except for the chambermaid. He will deal with her himself. Jenny, “Wheadle’s Wenches Maid,” enters, furious that Frolick came to her mistress’s house at two o’clock in the morning and wouldn’t stop knocking on the door; they are worried that they must now move as he bothered all the neighbours: “Because we would not let you in at that / Unseasonable hour, you and your rude / Ranting Companions hoop’d and hollow’d like / Mad-men and roar’d out in the Streets, / A whore, a whore, a whore; you need not have / Knock’d good people out of their Beds, you / Might have met with them had been good / Enough for your purpose abroad.” He apologises and tries to hug her. She threatens to scream and tells him that her mistress will never see him again. Beaufort then enters; Frolick covers Jenny’s mouth so that she can’t tell him anything, but she is defiant: “Pray tell the Consequence, how you march’d / Bravely at the rere of an Army of / Link-boys; upon the sudden, how you gave / Defiance, and then wag’d a bloody war with / Constable; and having vanquish’d that / Dreadful enemy, how you committed a general / Massacre on the glass-windows: Are not these / Most honourable atchievements, such as will be / Registred to your eternal Fame, by the most / Learn’d Historians of Hicks’s Hall.” He flirts with her a little in whispers, and she weakens. She and Dufoy insult one another and both leave. Alone, Frolick tells Beaufort all about Wheadle, the man who keeps Jenny’s mistress. Wheadle is good friends with Sir Nicholas Culley, “one whom Oliver, for the / Transcendent knavery and disloyalty of / His Father, has dishonoured with Knight-hood; / A fellow as poor in experience as in parts, / And one that has a vain-glorious humor to gain a / Reputation amongst the Gentry, by feigning good nature, and / An affećtion to the King and his Party.” Frolick sometimes socialises with them both, and knows that they rack up many bills. Beaufort happily tells his cousin of his inevitable marriage to Graciana. Frolick is cynical but Beaufort brushes him off and invites him as his guest to Lord Bevill’s dinner table. Frolick was meant to dine with his mistress, Lucy, but decides to break that date. Beaufort tells him that Bevill’s sister, a wealthy widow, will also be there, and she has designs on Frolick.
Scene 3: Wheadle’s lodgings. Wheadle consoles Thomas Palmer, who has had great gambling losses, telling of his friend Cully, who pays most of his bills. He tells Palmer to disguise himself like a thrifty man just come up from the country and to meet him at the Devil Inn at three o’clock. Palmer leaves and Cully enters. Palmer lies, telling him that they have been invited to a rendezvous with a newly-married woman who dislikes her husband. Cully is very interested and Palmer tells him to meet him at the Devil at three.
Scene 4: Lord Bevill’s house. Aurelia hands her sister Graciana a love-letter from Colonel Bruce but she rejects it. Aurelia berates her but they are interrupted by the arrival of their father Bevill, their brother Lovis, and their aunt, the Widow Rich. Lovis is concerned that their family honour is in question as Bevill encouraged Bruce to court Graciana, but now the match is off. Bevill shuts him down. They all go off to dine – except for Aurelia, who lingers to reflect upon how she is secretly in love with Bruce herself.
Act Two
Scene 1: Bevill’s house. The Clerk remarks that Dufoy is looking unwell after the wound that Frolick gave him, but Dufoy says he is wrong: it is actually because he has lost money to an English whore. The Clerk leaves and Frolick enters with the Widow and her maid Betty, flirting. They turn to Dufoy, who claims to be heartbroken over Betty. Betty is outraged at the accusation and leaves. Frolick and the Widow continue their flirtations and wander off to walk in the park.
Scene 2: Bevill’s garden. Beaufort and Graciana are walking and discussing how open they have been about their love for one another. Graciana is worried that she has not been as discreet as a woman should be: “Our weaker Sex glories in a Surprise, / We boast the sudden Conquests of our Eyes; / But Men esteem a Fo that dares contend, / One that with noble Courage does defend, / A wounded Heart; the Victories they gain / Tħey prize by their own hazard and their pain.” Lovis passes through and Beaufort greets him but is rebuffed. Graciana weeps: she is worried that her brother is going mad. Beaufort tries to comfort her: “Your Brother is a Man, whose noble Mind / Was to severest Virtue still inclin’d; / He in the School of Honor has been bređ, / And all her subtle Laws with heed has read.” Graciana explains that Lovis is good friends with Bruce, who wants to marry her, and Bruce has been pressuring Lovis to make the match. Frolick and the Widow enter and invite Beaufort and Graciana to join them at the park. They also invite Aurelia, who has just entered with her maid Leticia, but she declines and so the party leaves, with only Aurelia and Leticia remaining. Aurelia confesses that she is unhappy in love and Leticia tells her that she has also been heartbroken, by a man from a higher social class than she. She tells Aurelia that time will heal her pain and the two women sing together, then Leticia recommends that Aurelia try and rest.
Scene 3: Tavern. At the Devil, Wheadle gives Palmer’s footboy a letter and tells him to give it back to him when Cully arrives. Palmer (disguised as a “Buckinghamshire Grasier”) and Cully soon enter and the footboy dutifully gives Wheadle the letter. Wheadle reads it and pretends to be displeased; when Cully asks what it says, Wheadle gives it to him: it is a cancellation of their rendezvous, as the lady has to go to Greenwich with her husband. Cully calls for wine to improve their evening and Palmer sings a drinking song before leaving on false business. Wheadle tells Cully all about Palmer’s position as a grasier, telling him that he is very wealthy and encouraging him to con him out of his money. Palmer returns with a great deal of money and there is more singing and drinking. Wheadle tells Cully to call for dice so that he can begin to trick Palmer, and then men march off into another room to commence gambling.
Act Three
Scene 1: Tavern. The gambling has finished and Cully owes Palmer a lot of money – that he is reluctant to pay. He would rather fight, and Wheadle takes Cully’s side. They agree to meet and fight the following morning at eight, and Wheadle and Cully leave, laughing.
Scene 2: Covent Garden. Frolick enters with fiddlers and link-boys and borrows a bell from a bell-man. He proceeds to make a great racket outside the Widow’s house and her maid comes to the window. He is rude to her and she is quickly replaced by the Widow herself. She is unimpressed by his antics and leaves, but returns when he orders the fiddlers to sing a song about her. He eventually convinces her to let him in. Before he enters, he runs into Palmer, who tells him of his plot to “bubble” Cully.
Scene 3: Widow’s house. Frolick flirts with the Widow and kisses her but she is not so easily won over. He calls in his fiddlers and link-boys, who are actually dancing-masters in disguise, and they put on an entertainment for the Widow. Afterwards, Frolick asks the Widow to let him stay the night, but she sends him on his way.
Scene 4: Frolick’s lodging. Dufoy and the Clerk gossip about Frolick being out so late. Dufoy tells the Clerk how he came to work for Frolick, with the foot-boy rudely interjecting periodically. A foot-man then enters to summon Dufoy to see the apothecary outside.
Scene 5: Field. Wheadle and Cully arrive to fight a duel; Cully wishes that they’d got his neighbour Colonel Hewson to send some musketeers his way, but Wheadle points out that then his honour would be in question. At first it seems as though Palmer will not arrive, but he shortly enters with his second. Cully is very nervous. The men strip and measure swords, but Cully dithers: “I will not rend the buttons from my / Doublet for no mans pleasure.” Wheadle and Palmer’s second fight but when Palmer turns to Cully, Cully changes his mind: “My Conscience will not let me fight in a wrong / Cause; I will pay the money, I have fairly lost it.” Wheadle expresses his disgust at Cully’s fear and wants to fight anyway. Wheadle is held back, however, and Palmer’s second produces a judgement of debt for Cully to sign, which he duly does. Palmer and his second ride off to the tavern, singing, and Cully and Wheadle slink away.
Scene 6: Bevill’s house. Lovis is begging his father to protect the family honour, but Bevill rebukes his insolence and leaves. Lovis reflects on the nature of beauty, until he is joined by Bruce. Bruce is in a good mood, hoping to soon be united with Graciana, but Lovis bitterly wishes her dead. Before he can explain, Aurelia enters, and it falls upon her to tell Bruce that Graciana has fallen in love with another. Bruce is devastated, but admits that she probably pitied rather than loved him all along. Lovis is very angry for him, and disgusted by Beaufort’s foreign ways, and when a servant enters with news that Beaufort and Graciana are walking in the garden, insists that Bruce go and challenge him. Bruce is initially reluctant but Lovis goads him on until the two leave to confront Beaufort, to Aurelia’s horror.
Scene 7: Bevill’s garden. Beaufort and Graciana are talking of Bruce, when Bruce and Lovis pop out and surprise them! Bruce insists that she is his but Beaufort intervenes. Graciana tries to calm them both down but they continue arguing. In their heat, they agree to meet and fight at a later date, and it is only Graciana holding Beaufort back that stops them from fighting immediately. Bruce and Lovis leaves and Beaufort berates Graciana for restraining him. She begs him not to fight, and he calms himself.
Act Four
Scene 1. Lovis and Beaufort have just settled the terms of the duel, and Lovis leaves. Frolick enters to offer to act as Beaufort’s second – although he does remind him that Graciana does not want him to fight. Beaufort is firm, however: “Cousin, my love to her cannot make me forget my duty / To my Family.” They leave to prepare for the duel.
Scene 2. Palmer (dressed like Bevill) and Wheadle await Cully; when they hear him coming, Palmer slips away. Cully, dressed in clothes to rival Frolick in the hope of marrying the Widow. Wheadle assures him that the Widow has been told very good things about him, and the two leave to go to the tavern for wine.
Scene 3. Palmer flirts with Grace, Wheadle’s mistress who is dressed like the Widow. Wheadle enters with Cully, hugely drunk, and is introduced to Palmer (who is still in disguise as Bevill). Palmer leaves to fetch his “sister” while Cully and Wheadle discuss the prospect of smashing the windows with their swords; when Palmer returns, he has Grace with him, whom he introduces as the Widow. She flirts and drinks with Cully, who suggests that they go for a night-time walk together, telling her about all of the pranks he will play: “Thou shalt be witness how many Constables / Staves I’le break about the Warchmens ears: / How many Bell-men I’le rob of their Verses, / To furnish a little Appartment in the back-side / Of my Lodging.” They all agree that Cully and the “Widow” should marry and have many children, and when Grace leaves, Cully chases off after her. Wheadle is very pleased with how things are progressing: as long as Cully can be kept drunk, he will marry Grace and then Wheadle and Palmer will have control over his estate.
Scene 4: Field. Bruce and Lovis “traverse the Stage.” Four or five men then enter, “unacquainted with Compassion,” in order to find and kill Bruce. They are acting on a revenge plot from the first man, who hates Bruce for killing his father at the Battle of Naseby. When another man doubtfully suggests that the father was fairly killed, the first man doesn’t care. For years he tried to have him killed by legal means by falsely accusing him to Cromwell – but his plot has been discovered and Bruce has been released from prison, so the man must find another way to get revenge. The other men, being hired assassins, accept this, and they all exit. Bruce and Lovis enter, then Beaufort and Frolick “at another door.” Bruce thanks Lovis for his loyalty to him, but Lovis tells him to think nothing of it: “Shou’d I your friendship and my Honour rate / Below the value of a poor Estate, / A heap of dirt! Our Family has been / To blame, my blood must here atone the sin.” The villains then enter and, their leader pulling off his mask, attack Bruce and Lovis. Outmatched by sheer number, they are saved by Beaufort and Frolick, who enter and are horrified by the sight: “Heavens! what’s this I see! Sir Frederick, draw; / Their blood’s too good to grace such / Villains Swords, Courage, brave men; now / We can match their Force.” The four heroes manage to beat the villains down, making them run off, and they agree not to pursue them as they are “not worth pursuit.” Bruce thanks Beaufort for his help, but Beaufort explains that “We come to conquer, Bruce, and not to see / Such Villains rob us of our victory. / Your lives our fatal swords claim as their due; / W’ad wrong’d our selves had we not righted you.” He, Lovis, and Frolick begin to strip for the fight, but Bruce wavers: would it be right to fight the man who just saved his life? He offers to allow Beaufort to wound him, to satisfy honour, but this disgusts Beaufort, who insists on combat: “I come to conquer bravely in the Field, / Not to take poor revenge on such as yield. / Has nothing pow’r, too backward man, to move / Thy Courage? Think on thy neglected Love: / Think on the beauteous Graciana‘s Eyes; / ‘Tis I have robb’d thee of that glorious prize.” At these words, Bruce is moved to fight, and “strips hastily.” The men all fight, and eventually Beaufort manages to disarm Bruce. He returns him his sword and permits him to live. Lovis is disgusted at the “bloodless Field.” Bruce admires Beaufort’s honour and courage and thanks him for his generosity in giving him his life twice – but he can never overcome the loss of Graciana, and so he falls on his sword. Beaufort runs to take him in his arms and Lovis, devastated, tries to fall on his sword as well, and is only prevented from doing so by Frolick. Bruce still lives but is badly injured and wants to make a second attempt, but Lovis reprimands him: “Look on your Friend; your drooping Country view; / And think how much they both expect from you. / You for a Mistress waste that precious blood, / Which shou’d be spent but for our Masters good.” Beaufort, Lovis, and Frolick carry Bruce out to recover at the nearest house.
Scene 5. Graciana is weeping at the thought of the duel, when Bevill enters with the news that Bruce has killed himself for her after losing the battle. Having conveyed this, he leaves, only to be replaced by Aurelia, who is also weeping. She condemns her sister and leaves. Graciana wonders how best to proceed with honour. Beaufort enters, hoping for approval for his victory – but Graciana is furious for fighting after she had begged him to control his anger. She leaves, telling him that she hates him now, leaving Beaufort to ponder the twists of fate.
Scene 6: Widow’s house. Betty the maid tells Leticia how she has spiked Dufoy’s drink with opium and discovered that diseased, and he now lies drugged. A coach-man enters with a tub with holes made for arms, legs, and head, and puts Dufoy inside it. They then summon a fiddler to play, and Dufoy awakens. He is furious to discover his condition; he argues with the maids and struggles to be free, but they just laugh and dance around him with the coach-man and other servants. Eventually, they leave him alone in his humiliation.
Scene 7. Frolick is brought in upon a bier, surrounded by mourners, while the Widow weeps. A mourner describes how Frolick was killed in the duel, and that he told him that he loved the Widow with his last breath. The Widow speaks of her deep sorrow, but then Dufoy enters in his tub and she shrieks and runs out. Frolick sits up, startling Dufoy, and the Widow re-enters, laughing. He tries to kiss her but she starts laughing again and he storms out. She reflects that he will have to be cleverer to make her admit her love for him.
Act Five
Scene 1: Bevill’s house. Lovis and a surgeon enter, with servants carrying Bruce on a chair. The surgeon is doing his best to cure Bruce, but he privately despairs to Lovis. Aurelia, who has just entered, overhears this and weeps. Bruce sees her and is touched by her pity. She confesses that it is more than pity she feels for him, and he begins to realise that he has been pursuing the wrong sister. Graciana enters, and Bruce reassures her that she has made a good choice in Beaufort. She tells him that while she is Beaufort’s by honour, if he dies she will never marry. Bruce protests: “Can you be mindful of so small a debt, / And that which you to Beaufort owe forget? / That will not honour but Injustice be, / Honour with Justice always does agree.” He breaks off, weak, and is taken away by servants. Everyone leaves except for Graciana, who considers how she must pretend to hate Beaufort. Beaufort enters with a plea for her to be kind but she exits, leaving him to meditate on her refusal to reconsider.
Scene 2. Cully is drunk, “with a blind Fellow led before him playing on a Cymbal, follow’d by a number of boys hollowing, and persecuting him.” Cully chases them away with his sword, and, having reached the Widow’s house, announces his intention to serenade her. The Widow and Betty enter; the Widow tells Betty to release Dufoy when he wakes up. They are interrupted by Cully’s noise; Betty explains who he is, pointing out that his mother was her grandmother’s dairy-maid. The Widow’s servants take Cully’s sword from him and she tells them to take him away, while he tries to convince her that they are due to be married. They are interrupted by the clashing of swords outside, and a servant enters to tell them that Frolick is fighting with some bailiffs. The Widow hurries everyone out to help him, leaving Cully alone; Cully promptly falls asleep on the floor. Dufoy enters, wondering what’s going on, and Betty returns to tell him that Frolick is being arrested. She helps Dufoy out of the tub and he hurries off to help his master. The Widow returns and a servant tells her that he has been arrested over a debt of two hundred pounds. The Widow tells Betty to pay the debt with her own money and then bring Frolick to her house, but to make sure that Frolick does not realise that she is his benefactor. A foot-boy enters for Cully, who wakes up but is still too drunk to move. He wants to be taken to the Widow so the foot-boy lifts him up. Frolick enters with the bailiffs – who are actually the fiddlers in disguise! He questions Cully’s presence, and Cully informs him that he and the Widow are going to be married, before falling asleep again. Frolick and the Widow continue flirting, but are interrupted by Dufoy, who enters wearing a helmet and carrying a sword. He begins to attack the fiddlers, who protest that they are not really bailiffs and call for Frolick for help. The Widow is angry at being tricked and tells him that she is tempted to marry Cully in revenge. She orders him away and leaves, although he is convinced that she will change her mind soon. A servant enters to pick up Cully, telling Frolick that there is a man disguised as Bevill waiting outside. Cully repeats that he will marry the Widow and Frolick understands Wheadle’s plan. He leaves to find out more, and Cully and Dufoy begin to argue. Cully pulls Dufoy’s nose, but then falls down and Dufoy begins to beat him. Frolick and Palmer enter, and Frolick decides to end the charade. He pulls off Palmer’s disguise and Cully is drunkenly surprised. He tells Frolick that he owes Palmer money in a judgement, which Frolick demands to see. Reluctantly, Palmer hands it over, and admits that the “Widow” is simply Wheadle’s mistress Grace. Frolick offers Cully the opportunity to marry his sister (ugly but wealthy), and the two go off to get her consent, leaving Palmer to lament his bad fortune.
Scene 6: Garden. Graciana walks with Leticia, who has been gathering flowers. Leticia tells Graciana that Aurelia is with Bruce, and she sings to her. Graciana sighs over Beaufort, who has just entered. Startled, he hides himself and listens as Leticia suggests that she has been too hard on Beaufort and Graciana agrees to marry him if Bruce lives. At this, Beaufort reveals himself, but Graciana is alarmed and she and Leticia hurry off. Beaufort calls after her that Bruce’s wound is found to not be mortal, but she has already gone.
Scene 7: Lady Dawbwell’s house. Wheadle and Grace wonder why they have heard nothing from Palmer. Cully and Frolick enter; Wheadle is dismayed at Frolick’s presence but leads him away while leaving Cully and Grace alone. Unfortunately, he is arrested by bailiffs waiting for him outside. He owes money to Frolick; when he protests, they tell him that Palmer signed the debt over to him. Wheadle pleads for mercy and Frolick relents – provided that he marries Grace himself. Frolick will give Grace a thousand pounds to sweeten the deal, and also suggests that Palmer marry Jenny. These things being settled, Frolick takes Cully off to meet his sister at the Rose tavern.
Scene 8: Bevill’s house. Bevill, Bruce, Lovis, Beaufort, Graciana, and Aurelia enter, and Bruce confesses that he is now in love with Aurelia. Bevill gives his blessing to their marriage. With the knowledge that Bruce is recovering, Graciana happily agrees to marry Beaufort, and the men declare their friendship to one another. Frolick and Dufoy enter through one door, and the Widow and Betty through another. Frolick and the Widow dance around their relationship for a while, but then Bevill joins their hands and encourages their union. Dufoy then announces the arrival of Cully, Palmer, Wheadle, and their brides. Frolick chooses this moment to reveal that Cully has not married his sister at all, but rather his old mistress Lucy. There is nothing to be done, however, and Cully decides to keep her, for fear of making himself look foolish. As a final act, Frolick organises a match between Dufoy and Betty, and everyone celebrates with a wedding dance.
Drama Plots 