Lady.—­Well, I don’t know much of it indeed, but thus I was told.

Cit.—­Well, but if your ladyship would know the truth of it, you would do a piece of justice to go and try them.

Lady.—­Not I; besides, I have a mercer of my acquaintance.

Cit.—­Well, Madam, I’ll wait on your ladyship to your own mercer, and if you can’t find any thing to your liking, will you go and try the other shop?

Lady.—­Oh!  I am sure I shall deal if I go to my mercer.

Cit.—­Well, but if you should, let us go for a frolic, and give the other as much trouble as we can for nothing, and see how he’ll behave, for I want to be satisfied; if I find them as your ladyship has been told, I’ll never go there any more.

Lady.—­Upon that condition I agree—­I will go with you; but I will go and lay out my money at my own mercer’s first, because I wont be tempted.

Cit.—­Well, Madam, I’ll wait on your ladyship till you have laid out your money.

After this discourse they drove away to the mercer’s shop where the lady used to buy; and when they came there, the lady was surprised—­the shop was shut up, and nobody to be seen.  The next door was a laceman’s, and the journeyman being at the door, the lady sent her servant to desire him to speak a word or two to her; and when he came, says the lady to him,

Pray, how long has Mr—­’s shop been shut up?

Laceman.—­About a month, madam.

Lady.—­What! is Mr—­dead?

Laceman.—­No, madam, he is not dead.

Lady.—­What then, pray?

Laceman.—­Something worse, madam; he has had some misfortunes.

Lady.—­I am very sorry to hear it, indeed.  So her ladyship made her bow, and her coachman drove away.

The short of the story was, her mercer was broke; upon which the city lady prevailed upon her ladyship to go to the other shop, which she did, but declared beforehand she would buy nothing, but give the mercer all the trouble she could; and so said the other.  And to make the thing more sure, she would have them go into the shop single, because she fancied the mercer knew the city lady, and therefore would behave more civilly to them both on that account, the other having laid out her money there several times.  Well, they went in, and the lady asked for such and such rich things, and had them shown her, to a variety that she was surprised at; but not the best or richest things they could show her gave her any satisfaction—­either she did not like the pattern, or the colours did not suit her fancy, or they were too dear; and so she prepares to leave the shop, her coach standing at a distance, which she ordered, that they might not guess at her quality.

But she was quite deceived in her expectation; for the mercer, far from treating her in the manner as she had heard, used her with the utmost civility and good manners.  She treated him, on the contrary, as she said herself, even with a forced rudeness; she gave him all the impertinent trouble she was able, as above; and, pretending to like nothing he showed, turned away with an air of contempt, intimating that his shop was ill furnished, and that she should be easily served, she doubted not, at another.