The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume IV

In this lively Restoration comedy, the audience meets Sir Patient Fancy, an elderly alderman prone to imagined ailments, and his striking new wife, Lucia. Their marriage quickly becomes a stage for whispered intrigue as Lucia secretly entertains the dashing Charles Wittmore, whose only barrier to marriage is their shared poverty. When Sir Patient unexpectedly stumbles upon a garden rendezvous, the couple scramble to conceal the affair, inventing a fictitious suitor named Fainlove to explain the scene.

Around them swirl a cast of younger lovers and meddlesome relatives: the spirited step‑daughter Isabella, who is pledged to another, and the pedantic Lady Knowell, whose son Lodwick and daughter Lucretia add further complications. The play's early scenes are packed with mistaken identities, whispered vows, and the frantic attempts of the hypochondriac patriarch to maintain his composure amid the growing chaos. Behn’s sharp wit and sparkling dialogue set the tone for a comedy of manners where love, deception, and the fear of illness collide.