Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress

The Dutch Merchant arrives at the Quakers’ abode and claims that he has been looking for Roxana all over England. Roxana, who thinks she may have a chance of marrying him, is anxious that he does not learn of her infamous lifestyle in London. She has a design of settling with him incognito in the countryside. 

Meanwhile, a letter arrives from Amy, who Roxana sent to Paris to look for the Dutchman. Amy states that Roxana stands to do better than the Dutchman if she marries the Prince, who is still alive, wealthy, and gone to Germany, where he would make her a princess. The idea of becoming a princess is extremely seductive to Roxana, and she keeps the Dutchman at bay without wholeheartedly rejecting his suit. 

Amy later delivers the news that the Prince has been severely injured in a wild boar hunt and has entered a state of repentance, where he cannot conceive of reuniting with his former mistress. Roxana is irritated at the Prince’s change of heart but consoles herself with marrying the Dutchman and the thought that she could potentially obtain the title of Baronet’s Lady in England or Countess in Holland.