"It is a truth generally acknowledged that we are all longing to escape." "I escape always to my favourite book, Pride And Prejudice." "I've read it so many times now the wordsjust say themselves in my head and it's like a window opening." "It's like I'm actually there." "It's become a place I know so...intimately." "I can see that world, I can...touch it." "I can see Darcy." "Whoa, Amanda!" "Now, where was I?" "I have no right to complain about my Iife." "I want this account...de-jointed, yeah?" "I want her name gone." "I mean, it's the same for everybody." " And I..." "I do what we all do." " Did you get a suck?" "Do you want a slap?" "I take it on the chin, and patch myself up with Jane Austen." "Ow!" "I know I sound like this..." "terrible Ioser." "I mean, I do actually have a boyfriend." "It'sjust...sometimes I'd rather stay in with elizabeth Bennet." " Piranha!" "I thought you weren't here." " I'm not." "michael coming round?" "No." " why isn't he coming round?" " Boys' night." " He'II be round after that." " No, he won't." "I've told him not to." "I have plans that involve nobody except me." "IE, not you either." "So go away." " How do I Iook?" " You put your lipstick on by eating it." "This is as good as it gets." ""You are mistaken, Mr Darcy," ""if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way" ""than as it spared me the concern" ""which I might have felt in refusing you..." ""..had you behaved in a more gentIeman-Iike manner."" "(DoorbeII buzzes)" "(Man on TV) I've lost count of the number of passes up to now." "(Second man) Yeah, they're really taking charge of the midfield." "I just want to read my book." "(football commentary continues) what are you doing?" " Is this you proposing to me?" " (Burps)" "Yeah." "You're drunk." "Marry me, babes." "Make an honest woman of me." "You have no idea, do you, quite how unromantic that is?" " (woman talking on TV) - (Snoring)" "(CIattering)" " (clicking and rattling)" " Piranha?" "(woman whispering)" " (CIunk) - (woman) Ow!" "(woman mutters)" "This is most extraordinary." "But I beg you, Miss Spencer, to entertain my explanation of it, for it will be truthful, if a little intractable to believe." "There is a door, Miss Spencer, in the attic portion of my father's house, which is a place unvisited except by servants and myself." "were this door to open, it wouId give upon the empty air four storeys high, for there is no room beyond." "It is a door entirely without sense." "One may not pass through it, try as one might, until this day, for you, Miss Spencer, have opened this door for me." "You are the key." "what makes you think my name is Spencer?" "It is tailored in your underthings." "My name is Price, Amanda Price." "How do you do, Miss Price?" "I am elizabeth..." " Bennet." " Bennet." "Yes, I know." " (michael) Mands?" " Just a minute!" "(michael) Sweet?" "OK, elizabeth Bennet in my bathroom." " (Phone ringing)" " clearly I'm hallucinating." "Why?" "Too much Austen?" "My mother would say not enough boyfriend." "He doesn't take drugs, he doesn't knock you about." "This place is a mess." "It's called redecorating." "It's what women my age do when they get divorced." "It's like sex, only you can stop for a cup of tea and a biscuit." " Give me a cigarette." " Mm-mm, no." "You're telling me who I have to marry." "I'm reminding you, Amanda, that you are what you are." "If you waste your life pretending to be something else, you'II regret it." " I don't trust him, Mum." " He had it off with a waitress..." " Two nights running." " ..but he's a man." "He has appetites." "I have this conversation with Piranha on a regular basis, and she never gets it." "I'm not hung up about Darcy." "I do not sit at home with the pause button and colin Firth in clingy pants." "I Iove... the love story." "I Iove elizabeth." "I Iove...the manners and the language... and the courtesy." "It's become part of who I am and what I want." "I'm saying, Mum, that I have standards." "well, you have standards, pet." "I hope they help you on with your coat when you're 70." ""I, who have valued myself on my abilities..." ""who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister... "" ""..and we are engaged. "" ""It is settled between us already," ""that we are to be the happiest couple in the world. "" "(clicking)" " (clicks) - (Gasps and chuckles)" "(Gasps) Is this not astonishing?" "were such a thing at my disposal," "I should do little else but toy with it all day." "Miss Bennet." "I think I may be having a nervous breakdown." "You see," "I am a real person and you are a pretend person." " You are the creation of Jane Austen." " I am not acquainted with this person." "You are a character in a book." "This one, written by her 200 years ago." "It grieves me, Miss Price, that I must presume to dispute with you." "I have my fleshy envelope, as you yours." "tell me something I couldn't possibly know." "please." "A piece of information that simply doesn't exist in my brain." "Just do it." " NetherfieId Park is let." " No, no, I know that." "The news was fetched only this morning." "I have told no one but Lady Ambrosia." "I know about Mr Darcy, everything." "But you don't." "You haven't met him yet." "OK, something else." "please." "The part of Russian America that most intrudes into the Arctic Sea is called Point Barrow." "I have never heard of Russian America." "It occupies the northernmost territory in the west of the Americas." " But that's alaska." " I've never heard of alaska." "Show me the door, Miss Bennet." "That's not a door." "I mean, it could have been a door but it's part of the wall." "It's got all the pipey stuff behind there, the plumbing." "Yet it is the way I entered." "(Door creaks)" "I don't understand." "Nor I, Miss Price." "But this is assuredly my house." " (Birds cooing) - (flutter of wings)" " Huh!" " (Footsteps)" "(Door opens)" "(Door rattles)" "Sorry, Miss, but are you dining tonight?" "Mr Bennet likes to know what number to expect at table." "please advise Mr Bennet that I will be down...directly." "I was just, um..." "looking for him." "Yes, ma'am." "whom shall I say has given the master this message, ma'am?" "A friend of Miss elizabeth." "(Gasping)" "OK, this is seriously weird and I want to go home." "elizabeth." "elizabeth!" "(Gasping)" " (Piano plays and cutlery cIatters) - (Mrs Bennet) Oh, Lydia." "(Lydia) I have said if I am to be received at NetherfieId," "I shall dress in silk, so I shall!" "(Mrs Bennet) Lydia, as your father has civiIIy declined to call on Mr BingIey, the notion of such an excursion is entirely reprehensible." " (Piano continues) - (Door slams)" "(Conversation continues, indistinct)" "(Sighs)" "Aaaah!" "split my windpipe!" "I mean, good heavens." "Forgive me." "But the noise in this...palace of lunacy is more than a reading man can bear." "(Sighs)" " So you are..." " (Mrs Bennet squeaks)" "..elizabeth's friend." "Yes." "Amanda Price." " (Piano playing starts)" " Sir." "How marvellous to have the society of ladies who are not promiscuous with speech." "allow me to introduce myself across the wasteland of the servants' stairs." "I am elizabeth's father, claude Bennet." "claude?" "You're kidding." "It exposed me to some comments, but it was the name my parents chose." " (Piano playing continues) - (Chatter)" "(Door closes)" "(Gasps)" "So you are not a local person, Miss Price?" "I rent in Hammersmith." "It's an area of London." "I have driven through a pleasant place that bears the name," " but it was some miles from London." " It would have been." "And you are acquainted with Lizzy how?" "Known elizabeth for years." "until yesterday I had not heard of you." "It is possible she made many speeches on the subject and I had merely forgot." "old age, Miss Price." "I find I cannot recommend it." "(Mrs Bennet walls)" " My wife." " (Door slams)" "Lizzy has told you about our thrilling new neighbour?" " Mr BingIey?" " pleasant enough." "Not strong on brains." "I called on BingIey this forenoon." "I haven't told my wife that." "But she enjoys the suspense." "we really are right at the beginning, aren't we?" "You do make the most refreshingly elliptical conversation, Miss Price." "So Lizzy has gone to Hammersmith to see you, but you have come to Longbourn to see her." "You will forgive me for observing that the arrangement seems to have a flaw." "(Sighs)" " Oh, dear, are you quite well?" " I do feel a bit...unusual." " Might I go back upstairs?" " Of course." "we can dissect this matter further on the morrow." "Take Lizzy's bed." "She claims it is tolerable soft." " sleep well in it." " Thank you." "Hm." "(Mrs Bennet) well, I call it perverse." " Mr Bingham's here..." " (Lydia) BingIey, Mama." "..and your father, what kind of... (Mrs Bennet) I said BingIey." "(Lydia) You said Bingham." "(Mrs Bennet) If you contradict me, you will go to your room." "(Lydia) I'm as likely to meet a husband there as anywhere in this house." "(Mrs Bennet) Oh, Lydia, sit down at once!" "Mr Bennet!" "(Mr Bennet) Oh, am I here?" "elizabeth." " Miss Price." " Oh!" " I did not mean to startle you." " No, no, no, it's, um..." "Papa sent us to see that you knew Lizzy's room, but clearly you're..." "Yes!" "Thank you." "You're..." "Kitty, aren't you?" "And you're..." "Mary." "I've read so much about you, I feel I know you." " Read?" " Heard." "talking to elizabeth, who is my... (whispers) ..friend." "Is there anything we can get you, Miss Price?" "A dish of faggots?" "AII right for faggots, thank you." "I think I'II just, um... ..go to sleep." "Right." " (Door creaks) - (Kitty and Mary giggle)" "(Door closes)" " (Departing footsteps) - (giggling)" "(Beeping)" "(failed call tone)" "(Birdsong)" "(Mrs Bennet) Oh!" "Mr Bennet!" " (Sighs) - (Mrs Bennet walls)" "Lend me your handkin, Lizzy." "(Gasps) Oh!" " You're Miss Price of Hammersmith." " Yes." "I thought you felt funny." "I often get into bed with Lizzy in the night." "She strokes my back when it's time to wake." "Oh, I'm Lydia, by the way." "I know." "what preparation do you use for your hair?" "It's most pungent." "OK, look, I've had enough of this." "what's the deal here?" "Are we live on cable or something?" "Is this like the Jim Carrey thing, but period?" "where are the cameras?" "well, come on!" "what are you after, guys?" "A bit of girI-on-girI action under the covers?" "what do I have to do to get out of here?" "Snog her?" "Show you my pubes?" "what have you done to yourself?" "That's called a landing strip, Lydia." "Standard...pubic topiary." "(CIucking)" "The fit of her britches is extraordinary." "The britches are as nothing, but an hour..." " Good morning." " Good morning, Miss Price." " Did you sleep?" " I did." "Thank you." "please, sit here next to me." "I'm Jane." "My sisters I think you've already met." "There is chocolate and green tea and marmalade, for which hill makes exceptional toast." "(Miss Bennet walls)" "I'm sorry we cannot offer you anything more amusing." "It all sounds...heavenly." "Your tunic, Miss Price, it is what is worn in town this season?" " I think it very fine." " Kitty, you are importunate." "I am starved of fashion, is all." "This is...otter-hunting kit." "(Laughter)" "Goodness!" "Are otters routinely hunted in Hammersmith?" "Oh, yes." "The belt therefore is for the attachment of knives?" "absolutely." "My proper clothes are...you know, coming." "I shouldn't bother." "In this house, we may as well take the veil." "AII Papa has to do, Jane, is call on Mr BingIey." "It's not arduous." "Yet to punish us being fIibbertigibbets, he will not." " I think you'II find that..." " (Mrs Bennet walls)" " Um..." " (Mrs Bennet) Oh, Mr Bennet!" "My mother, Miss Price, is a little indisposed this morning." "I'm sorry to hear that." " She suffers from her nerves." " Yes." " Have you met my mother?" " I've, um... yet to have that pleasure." " (Horse neighs outside)" " Oh!" " who's that?" " He sits his horse well." "I'II tell you exactly who that is." "Oh, Mr BingIey." "It is unutterably kind of you to call." "Common courtesy, madam, neighbours...so forth." "Ah, BingIey." "welcome, sir, to the asylum." "what, finished already?" "You have devoured Rousseau apace." "I found him eminently digestible." " You gentlemen are acquainted?" " we've known each other hours." "we lend each other books." "It is practically a marriage." "That's Mrs Bennet!" " You did not say, Mr Bennet." " I lacked the opportunity." "Mr BingIey, and, yes, he's looking at Jane." "(Mr Bennet) If you've words to say in this house, speak 'em up sharp." "Now let us sort the sheep from the goats." "My daughters Jane, Mary, Kitty, Lydia." "elizabeth, the very goatiest, is not here." "In her stead we have Miss Amanda Price." "Oh." "Charmed." "Charmed." " Miss Price is of Hammersmith." " really?" " excellent fox-hunting country, I hear." " well furnished with otters." " Shush." " undoubtedly." "elizabeth is presently to be found disporting in the otter-strewn thoroughfares of Hammersmith." "Miss Price will explain." "(clock ticking)" "Lizzy's gone to my place." "She's, um... as it were... trying to write a book." "Mm, a novel." "She's tried to write it here, but she finds the life of the house distracting." "My place, it seemed logical that she should dig in there for a day or two." "Get something down on paper." "She intimated to me she would be gone for weeks." "Did she?" "well... anyway, we've... done a sort of swap." "She's there and I'm, um...here." "But why, Mr Bennet, at such a time like this with..." "Lizzy begs your forgiveness for not explaining these plans more thoroughly." "I..." "I think she wanted it to be a... you know, surprise." "I call it a marvellous idea, writin'." "AII in favour of that." "Mr BingIey." "Are you at all disposed to join the dancing tomorrow night at the assembly rooms?" "(BingIey) RoyaIIy disposed, Mrs Bennet." "I've summoned hordes of friends from London." "Quite a party." " (Amanda) He means Darcy." " Did you hear this?" "One that could only be enhanced should you consent to join it." "(Chatter and laughter)" "AII of you." "Too kind, sir, but I must beg to be excused." "Large gatherings of society bring me out in hives..." " Oh." " ..as do small gatherings." "Stop looking at me, BingIey." "Look at Jane." "It is a pity that Miss Price's portmanteau has failed to appear." "we must endeavour to furnish her with clothes that are a little less provoking of attention." "It's all so exciting." "(chuckles) Lizzy made this for herself." "It's lovely." "what are you thinking, Miss Bennet?" "I'm thinking how pretty you shall be for Mr BingIey tomorrow." "Never mind the BingIey, bring on the Darcy." "He's the one we want to see." "You know this gentleman to be part of Mr BingIey's party?" "I'm guessing out loud." "terrible habit." "(chuckles)" "I must say, Mr BingIey seemed a very nice man." " He'd be a good person to marry." " Mm." "I'd quite like to clean my teeth." "Is that possible?" "Of course." "The instruments are all ready before you." "See, I've brought birch twigs, powdered salt and a fresh block of chalk." "Right." "Thank you." "Mm." "splendid." "Are we going to church?" "Does it have architectural merit?" "probably not." "But I doubt that's the point of attendance." "what is to be done with my brother, Mr Darcy?" "He has doubts." "A gentleman knows God believes in him." "It is his duty to return the compliment." "well, I, however, desire the compliment of your sitting down with me." "You would rather stand in church and have all of the local womanhood fall in love with you." "How we look forward to meeting these fascinating Bennets and Prices at tomorrow's ball." " caroline." " You must play cards with your sister." " (bell chiming)" " Oh..." "Poor charles." "Do you have a psalter, Miss Price?" "Er...is that like a picnic thing for seasoning sandwiches?" "More for the recitation of psalms." "Not on me." "How kind." "Huh!" "Mm." "Look, you have to tell me." "Has there been anyone else like me turning up here?" "Like you, Miss Price?" "Bit odd, talks funny, doesn't know how things operate." "Not really." "I thought for a minute you were wearing contact lenses." "How do you get those...ringIets?" "By the application of hot irons." "I'd be delighted to arrange yours if you'd let me." "No." "I may be losing grip on reality, but I'm still in control of my hair." " Ow!" " Sorry." "Just checking." "what's a sandwich?" " Mr collins is a parson." " Our father's cousin." "He owns us." "Longbourn is entailed to him." "were Papa to die, Mr collins could put us out like that." "Therefore must we marry to be forearmed against the worst." "I should have thought Lizzy might have told you about Mr collins." "She talks of little else to that fat old sow Ambrosia." " Oh..." " we've never met him, of course." "He might be tremendously handsome." "I wouldn't get your hopes up." "Do you expect to receive an offer of marriage, Miss Price?" " Matter of fact, I just had one." " No!" " what reply did you make?" " I turned him down." "well, I didn't believe he loved me." "(Low chatter)" " Kitty, pass me your kneeIer." " why?" "You must forgive my accosting you thus but we have not been presented." " You're charlotte Lucas." " You see you've utterly beguiled me." "Kitty here tells me, "That lady is Lizzy's friend Miss Price,"" "and I'm at once consumed with jealousy for Lizzy has never told me of you yet you know my name before it is said." "wherefore did Lizzy neglect to tell me about this book?" "I never knew her start it." "well, she didn't confide in me either." "originally." "I myself got it from somebody else." "worse and worse." "wicked Lizzy offends us both." "who told you of the book?" "Er..." "Lady Ambrosia." "How...characteristically eccentric of our friend to have confided in her, but odder still for Ambrosia to have discussed it with you." "Lady Ambrosia is, after all, a corpulent female pig." "(Snorts) what sort of trick is this, Miss Lucas?" "what sort of trick are you, Miss Price?" "(Organ plays hymn)" "It vexes me exceptionally that elizabeth should choose to be abroad at such a time as this." "And Hammersmith, Mr Bennet." "Is...is Hammersmith a likely sort of place?" "I was not aware it was abroad, but I salute your superior command of geography." "Ah." "we are arrived, Miss Price, at a particularly fine prospect." "(Gasps) NetherfieId Park." "According to disposition one can marvel at the delicate masonry of the windows or thrill to the wealth of the tenant." "I Iearned in church from Mrs Lucas that chiefest among Mr BingIey's guests is Mr FitzwiIIiam Darcy, of PemberIey." "I have attended the disclosure with the reverence befitting all your utterances, my dear." "Now kindly explain it to me." "(Mrs Bennet) Darcy!" " PemberIey!" "why, 1 0,000 a year!" " 1 0,000!" "My joy, accordingly, is unconfined." "Jane, it appears you must now marry Mr Darcy instead of Mr BingIey." "It is not presently my plan, sir, to marry either gentleman." "No, but it is your mother's so choose your hymns." "what say you, Miss Price?" "shall Jane be wedded to this Mr Darcy?" "Oh, Kitty, you are overstimulated!" "But Miss Price is quite DeIphic, Mother." "She prefigures all." "I have no idea." "Perhaps it is elizabeth who shall be married." "elizabeth's not here." " (Birdsong) - (Crow caws)" "elizabeth." "elizabeth!" "I am not...you." "You should be here." "Oh!" "There's going to be a ball." "At the ball you meet Darcy." "You have to meet Darcy." "Do you understand?" "You have to meet him, elizabeth." "It's what happens." " (wild screeches) - (owl hooting)" "Oh, I'm so looking forward to the prospect of Mr FitzwiIIiam Darcy." " I hate a man with too much money." " Mary!" "That's very modern, and I daresay very clever, but you will oblige me." "Last-minute Iippy, for luck." "It's all the rage in Hammersmith." "This evening, Miss Bennet, make sure you dance with Mr BingIey." "It's important." "Miss Price, you...you really are alarming." "explain your meaning." "I can't." "I don't know what will happen if I do." "I'm just saying tonight is supposed to be fun." "So have a lovely time, with BingIey." "Let's get to work." " (~ folk dance music)" " girls!" "Oh, it's a post." "Ladies!" "How very splendid you all look." "I'm so pleased you've come." "(Dancers clapping in time)" "will you excuse me, Mr BingIey?" "I think we all feel it wouId have been preferable had Miss Price remained in Hammersmith rather than perplexing us here with her radical manners." "I disagree cordially, Mrs Bennet." "I find your guest...refreshing." " (Cheering) - (Music ends)" " Thank you. what is this, wine?" " Punch, madam." "Oh, no, don't go away." "Bit thirsty." "Hm!" "Miss Price, allow me to introduce Miss BingIey." "(Coughing)" "(clears throat) How do you do?" "I am not choking, which must be counted in one's favour." "You're charles's sister." "One cannot deny the accusation, however unused to being defined in terms of one's brother." "No accusation, caroline." "Your brother's a gentleman." " Miss, um..." " Lucas." "Lucas tells me you're come up from town, Miss Price." " Hammersmith." " Oh." "Miss Price, you are quite flushed." "Another refreshing glass, perhaps?" " Ooh." " we're both in a dream, Miss Price." "More than you know, Mr BingIey." "Now we have collided so fortuitously, may I beg the honour of the next excursion?" "You want to dance?" "Oh, er..." "I'm afraid that's, um...not possible." " You cannot dance a quadrille?" " I cannot dance a quadrille." "Then it shall be my happy duty to educate you." "alas, that unrewarding task has been claimed by another." " Another?" " Mm-hm." "I fear there may have to be a duel." "who is to be your dancing master?" " Name the dog." " (Amanda) Don't say it." "Mr Darcy." " Darcy?" " (Amanda) You said it." "Are you certain you have that aright, Miss Price?" "Darcy!" "Darcy!" "A most grievous slur has been cast upon your character." "Miss Price says she won't dance with me because you've already asked her." " Yes." " Yes?" "what fresh Iunacy is this, sir?" "You've never lifted a hoof to dance in your life." "until this evening, I'd not had the honour of being acquainted with Miss Price." "This is an event of some significance, Miss Price." "Quite unprecedented." "He regards forms of sudden Iocomotion as emblematic of ill breeding." "Hunting, tennis, rising precipitateIy from a chair." "when Miss Price and I dance, there shall be nothing sudden." "I can't dance...this sort of dance." "Nor I. Together we shall make a shambles." "But we shall do it with such authority they will stare at us to Iearn the step." "Madam?" " Oh, um..." " Oh." "(Music starts)" "(giggles)" "I don't know what to say." "fortunately, we are obliged only to dance." "Look at Miss Price dancing." "(Bennet girls giggle)" "why did you say yes?" "To spare my friend the humiliation you contrived for him." "I didn't seek to humiliate Mr BingIey." "Then your refusal to dance with him was most iII-adapted to its purpose." "(Music ends)" "(Amanda) I'm drunk." "I need a fag." "I've got one fag." "Everything I do is wrong." "Everything." "please, God, I want to go home." "You even breathe fire." "(Snorts)" "Oh, gosh!" "(Gasps)" " Miss Price, I..." " Mr BingIey..." "How can I begin?" "You and I, we come from..." "very different worlds, more different than you could possibly imagine." "Miss Price..." "In my world, Mr BingIey, all I ever do is dream about the loveliness of your world... (chuckles)" "..the stately, elegant rituals and pace of courtship, of lovemaking, as you call it, under the gaze of chaperones, of happiness against all odds, and...and marriage." "Here I am," "I talk to you for two minutes," "I kiss you and you...you..." "So I'm a little... disappointed in myself, Mr BingIey." "I feel like those guys who discovered that Stone Age tribe, then gave them the common cold, wiped them out." "Miss Price, I... (Sneezes) Oh!" "No doubt, Miss BingIey, you and your brother find these young provincial gentlemen" "lacking in metropolitan refinement?" "Oh, the young gentlemen we find the acme of particularity and taste." "It is the ladies of the country whose crassness is unparalleled." "As the mother of many daughters you must find it wearying to have to lead by example." "I do, Miss BingIey." "I do!" "Miss Price, a word." "According to the laws of Christian hospitality, Miss Price," "I may not turn you out of my house." "Instead, I shall favour you with a warning." "I do not know how a person like you comes to be so friend-Iike with Lizzy." "I fear your influence on her." "But as to my other daughters who remain in my care, hear this." " Do not obstruct them." " I promise you..." "It is not necessary for you to speak." "Just listen." "Do not obstruct any one of them in her quest for a propitious marriage." "If you do and my estate is lost because of it, something may come over you, Miss Price, Iike a thief in the night, which may not be quite so agreeable." "well, you're a real baII-breaker." "Sorry, you don't know what that..." "I understand the sense of your speech well enough, Miss Price." "Do you understand mine?" "(Low chatter)" "I would dance but it's impossible." " The carriage fills with freezing air." " Shh!" " Oh!" " (Laughter)" "(Amanda) elizabeth!" "It's all going... completely...tits-up." "BingIey couldn't even see Jane under his..." "Oh!" "elizabeth!" "Open this door!" "(Sighs)" "(RustIing)" "(Amanda) "My dear father," ""I pray you, sir, not to trouble your mind" ""about your most headstrong daughter." ""I quite flourish in Hammersmith." ""I am minded to sojourn here alone a while."" "Er..."alone" is underlined." ""If I might be so presumptuous as to offer advice to my own father," ""then I would admonish him to pay particular attention...to Miss Price." ""She is intimately acquainted with the doings of our family," ""and I cordially believe her to be its most devoted and formidable ally." ""Trust her." "Your affectionate daughter, elizabeth."" "when Lizzy was ten years old, I taught her to fly a kite." "She soon mastered it." "She stood between my arms... in front of me, and took the strain." "I believe she has taken it ever since." "But as for my trust, you have it." "A rare thing, Miss Price, but Kitty is quite right." " You are oracular." " Hm-hm!" "You prophesied Mr Darcy would attend the ball and he duly came." "Did he prove equal to your expectations?" "Yes." "And no." "I mean, he's not colin Firth." "But even colin Firth isn't colin Firth." "They had to change the shape of his head with make-up." "But, no, Mr Darcy was pretty spectacularly unfriendly but that's what one would expect." "physically, he fills his britches pretty well, but he doesn't, you know, float my boat." "AII that...aristocratic Ianguor." "I know he can't help it, but it's really not very attractive." "To me." "He does not...float your boat?" "An expression current in Hammersmith, never to be used in front of Lydia." "(chuckles) without Lizzy, the equilibrium of this house is...fragile." "It is fruitless to pretend otherwise." "However, your presence among us affords a certain... reassurance." "At least to my father." "And to me." "It's very good to have you here." "Thank you." "I'm...glad I can be of service to you, while I'm here." "It is not service, Miss Price, it is friendship." "Yes." "Yes, it is." "(Birdsong)" "OK, I have no idea how to fix this book, and I cannot sew this bloody pew thing without stabbing myself in the hand." "Ow." "Ah, Miss Lucas, how convenient you are." "How glad I am of that, Mrs Bennet." "This is all most industrious." "Miss Price, alas, is a stranger to handiwork for the church." "I'm sure she would bless you, were you to take charge of her kneeIer." "I may need to unpick all this and start again, Miss Price." " elizabeth sends news?" " She writes to her father, not to me." "She clearly intends to stay in Hammersmith indefinitely." "And how long do you plan to stay here, Miss Price?" "I intend to trespass on the hospitality of this household for, er... for not much more... time." "I hope you stay forever." "Church has had enough from me for today." "Let us have tea." "Mr Bennet... (Sighs)" "Do you show me your finger because it is injured?" "I wish to know, Mr Bennet, how long Miss Price is to remain our guest." "She does not materially contribute to the running of this household." "She is unkempt and indelicate..." "and not at all couth!" "She is upsetting the servants with all manner of improper remarks!" "Ahh..." "Oh!" "(Amanda) elizabeth." "In the book, your mother sends Jane to NetherfieId on a horse in the rain." "She gets a cold and has to stay the night and that's how BingIey faIIs in love with her." "But it's not happening." "Nothing's happening the way it should." "Right." "I will do my best." "OK?" "For Jane." "Mr BingIey instructed you to invite me to visit him?" "Some men find it hard to speak their love, except through an intermediary." "It's not uncommon." "You must go." "If I set off for NetherfieId, Miss Price, it will surely pour with rain." "Look at the sky." "The rain will be torrential, and you will get very wet." "This is all how it should be." "Trust me." "(Mary) where has my sister gone?" "(Amanda) NetherfieId." "But there is to be heavy rain." "She'II be soaked and catch the grippe." "Mm-hm." "But this is terrible." "The infection goes straight to her chest." "The last time she contracted it..." "Oh, foolish girl!" "She does not know." " Doesn't know what?" " How close she was to death!" "Mama!" "(Mary) Mama!" " (Thunder)" " Miss Bennet!" "Miss Bennet!" "Jane!" "Jane has gone to NetherfieId Park in this weather and Miss Price pursues her!" "Are you so obtuse, Mr Bennet, that you do not see what is the matter here?" "She has gone to queer Jane's pitch!" "It is exciting when you bring the language of the theatre into this house but might this room be returned to the purpose for which it was created?" "For me to sleep in undisturbed." "The weather today is uncongenial." "Is it?" " One tends not to notice." " (ThundercIap)"