CLUTTERBUCK : Mascarille ! Ah , there you are ! How operates the plot ? How machinates the scheme ? I ’ m waiting on fiendish tidings to prove our villainy a thrill .
MASCARILLE : Sir , alas , my labors , though well-prepared , have come to naught . I clutched the purse with your mortgage paid Scapin , though most curious , they came from stratagems elsewhere —
CLUTTERBUCK : What ! You failed ?
MASCARILLE :
I was as good — that is , as bad — as Friar Sganarelle , who robbed the usurer your funds —
CLUTTERBUCK : Incredible !
MASCARILLE :
But then , my conscience he beseeched — not to mention , terrified — by being more a man of faith than the man of faith , that crook —
CLUTTERBUCK :
Thou dunce ! Thou knave ! Thou braggart churl ! ‘ Putting buried skills to sprout ’! I ’ ll say ! You ’ ve buried credibility ! I ’ ll have you in the barn tonight , to teach you to purloin with aim . As a rogue , you ’ ve proved a rogue . In the barn , with no dinner !