She Stoops to Conquer

Mr. Hardcastle and his daughter compare their first impressions of Marlow. While Mr. Hardcastle finds him shockingly brazen and disrespectful, Kate describes him as bashful, timid, and unassuming. They realize that one of them must be wrong, since their experiences have been so different. She has put on a more plain and modest dress, as her father requests that she does in the evening.

Meanwhile, Tony seeks out Constance's jewels and steals them from his mother's bureau. He tells Hastings he has them ready, but Constance is still pleading with Mrs. Hardcastle to let her wear them. Mrs. Hardcastle claims that young women do not need jewelry to augment their beauty and can rely on their natural looks. She tells Tony to pretend that the jewels have gone missing if Constance asks about them again. Tony privately informs Constance that he has stolen the jewels already. Mrs. Hardcastle returns from her chambers, distraught that the jewels are really missing. Tony tricks her, acting as though he believes it to be the ruse she told him about, and playing along with the narrative that the jewels are missing. She is frustrated by her inability to convey that this is a real problem.