Barkwell. You shan’t have her at all. Fifteen thousand pounds! – if I thought my Niece would ever think of thee as a Husband now, I’d put one half of her fortune into each pocket, drive to Dover, and leap into the Sea to disappoint thee.
Evergreen. Why we’d fish thee up again, like a pearl oyster, for the sake of your riches. Neither Earth, Sea, or Air, in this happy age, can keep Curiosities from us now.
Hannah Cowley, More Ways Than One (1783), Act V Scene i, extract
Hannah Cowley (1743-1809) was a British playwright and poet. More Ways Than One is loosely based on Moliere’s L’école des femmes (The School for Wives).
Diving for Pearls 