"How to Settle Accounts with your Laundress" by J. Stirling Coyne is a comedy English drama set in the 19th century. Joseph Stirling Coyne (1803–1868) was a humorist and satirist in the tradition of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. One of the most prolific British playwrights of the mid-nineteenth century. Coyne brought to the stage accomplished comedic interchanges, puns, irony, exaggerated character traits, ludicrous plot situations, and surprising outcomes. His plays reveal a deft ear for dialogue and an ability to create characters suited to the talents of specific actors. As a journalist, Coyne contributed humorous pieces to many widely circulated journals and newspapers.

Reproduction of the original: How to Settle Accounts with your Laundress by J. Stirling Coyne

In this farcical one-act play by J. Stirling Coyne, the protagonist, Mr. Green, arrives at the Hotel d'Angleterre in Dieppe with a mysterious Countess de Rambuteau whom he has been traveling with from Paris. However, things take a hilarious turn when it is revealed that the Countess is actually Green's wife, Mrs. Greenfinch, who has disguised herself to test her husband's fidelity. As men cannot be trusted according to Betsy, Mrs. Greenfinch's maid, she decides to put this plot into motion as Green has been acting strange since claiming an inheritance in Paris. This light-hearted play is a humorous exploration of relationships and the trust that underpins them.