At the home of the Hardcastle family, Mr. Hardcastle expresses to his wife, Dorothy Hardcastle, that he does not like new things. While she admires the new fashions from London, he prefers old-fashioned clothes, values, and manners. Mrs. Hardcastle complains that their house is so old that it looks like an inn. Mr. Hardcastle affectionately tells her that he also prefers old wives. Mrs. Hardcastle claims she is not as old as he says—57—because her son, Tony Lumpkin, has not come of age yet. Tony Lumpkin is her child from her first marriage and she worries that he is sickly and likely to die young from consumption, therefore he has had no formal schooling. Mr. Hardcastle, however, points out that he is actually a rowdy young man who likes to play pranks and drink with lower-class people at the local tavern.

Miss Kate Hardcastle, the daughter of the family, enters the room dressed in modern fashion. Mr. Hardcastle dislikes her clothing, claiming it looks too French, but she promises to uphold a bargain where she will dress as she likes during the day, but put on old-fashioned clothing at night for dinner.