Hardy

( Mr. ), father of Letitia. A worthy little fellow enough, but with the unfortunate gift of “foreseeing” everything (act v. 4). Letitia Hardy , his daughter, the fiancée of Dor´icourt. A girl of great spirit and ingenuity, beautiful and clever. Dor i court dislikes her without knowing her, simply because he has been betrothed to her by his parents; but she wins him by stratagem. She first a umes the airs and manners of a raw country hoyden, and disgusts the fastidious man of fashion. She then appears at a masquerade, and wins him by her many attractions. The marriage is performed at midnight, and, till the ceremony is over, Dor i court has no suspicion that the fair masquerader is his affianced, Mi Hardy.—Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem (1780).