MRS. HURST
Well, Fitzwilliam, my husband informs me that it was Miss Elizabeth
Bennet that attracted your attention this evening.
DARCY
Who?
MRS. HURST
Fitzwilliam, please don't be coy.
DARCY
Oh, you mean that young lady with the beige dress?
Yes, I found her face somewhat interesting.
The set of her jawbone. Fascinating.
The line of her nose had a sort of Greco-Roman --
MRS. HURST
Are we now going to have to extricate you from the clutches
of a local maiden this year?
DARCY
No, of course not, Louisa. By the morning I'll have completely forgotten
what she looks like.
MRS. HURST
Perhaps Caroline should leave Charles alone this year and put all
her efforts into saving you from a predator.
DARCY
Don't be ridiculous, Louisa.
MRS. HURST
Let me make you aware that the Bennet estate is entailed away
somewhere else, away from the daughters, so Miss Elizabeth is
not even as good a match as Miss Charlotte Lucas.
DARCY
For someone who claims to have no interest in the local concerns of
Hertfordshire you seem to have learned an awful lot already.
MRS. HURST
Well, it never hurts to be aware of the local landscape,
Fitzwilliam.
DARCY
I'm getting the impression that you don't mind if your brother
flirts with a local lady but you don't want me doing the same.
MRS. HURST
Perhaps you just need to speak a few words to Miss Elizabeth.
That'll probably undo your infatuation, as soon as you see how
unsophisticated her mind is.
DARCY
Yes. She probably has a speech impediment or something.
MRS. HURST
I'll wager she has the intelligence of a gnat.
DARCY
But you don't seem to mind if your brother becomes infatuated
with a Bennet girl, though.
MRS. HURST
Well, I've spoken to the lady myself, and she does seem very
sweet.
DARCY
Well, we'll see about that.
MRS. HURST
Why don't you take Caroline into town tomorrow?
DARCY
I'm going to try and keep your brother busy tomorrow. Perhaps I'll take
him into Meryton and buy him a new gun or cravat or something.
At least if they have any fashionable apparel out here in the
wilderness.