"I say, thus it is with me while I see him; and in his absence I am entertained with nothing but your endeavors to tear this image from my heart and, in its stead, to place a base dissembler, and artful invader of my happiness, my innocence, my honor."
The Conscious Lovers
First performed November, 1722. At least 87 entries in ESTC (1722, 1723, 1724, 1725, 1729, 1730, 1732, 1733, 1735, 1736, 1740, 1741, 1743, 1744, 1746, 1747, 1751, 1755, 1757, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1764, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1771, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1780, 1782, 1785, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794).<br>
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Text from <u>The Conscious Lovers. A Comedy. As It Is Acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants. Written by Richard Steele</u> (London: Printed for J. Tonson, 1723).<br>
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Reading in Scott McMillin's <u>Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Comedy</u>. Norton Critical Edition. (New York: Norton, 1973).