Hello all, thank you for your participation. Please see the additional notes at the bottom. Please note that this film is "adapted" from the book. The text varies from the original text quite often.

Lady Catherine: You know, of course, why I am here. Your own heart, your own conscience must tell you so.

Eliza Bennett: Indeed, Madame. Perhaps you have a letter from Charlotte?

Lady Catherine: Do not trifle with me, Miss Bennett. However insincere you may be, you will not find me so. My character was ever celebrated for its sincerity and frankness and at such a moment as this I shall certainly not depart from it.

I have received a report of a most alarming nature that not only was your sister to be most advantageously married, but that you, that Miss Eliza Bennett was shortly to be united with my nephew -- my own nephew -- Mr Darcy. It is, of course, a scandalous falsehood and one impossible to be true.

Eliza: If you believed it to be impossible to be true, I wonder why you took the trouble of coming so far? What could Your Ladyship propose by it?

Lady Catherine: At once to insist that such a report is universally contradicted.

Eliza: Your coming to see me would be rather a confirmation of such a report if indeed it exists.

Lady Catherine: If? Do you pretend to be ignorant of it? Has it not been industriously circulated by yourself? Do you not know that such a report is spread abroad?

Eliza: I never heard it was.

Lady Catherine: And can you likewise declare that there is no foundation in it?

Eliza: I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with Your Ladyship. You may ask me questions which I shall not choose to answer.

Lady Catherine: This is not to be borne, Miss Bennett. I insist on being satisfied! Has he? Has my nephew made you an offer of marriage?

Eliza: Your Ladyship has declared it to be impossible.

Lady Catherine: It ought to be so. It must be so while he retains the use of his reason. But with arts and allurements you may have drawn him into it and he is intended for my daughter. Now what have you to say?

Eliza: If that is so, then you can have no reason to suppose that he'll make an offer to me.

Lady Catherine: From their infancy they have been intended for each other. It was his mother's favourite wish and my own. Is their union so long planned, so soon to be accomplished, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth and of no position in the world? Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends? Are you lost to all feelings of propriety and delicacy?

Mots Problématiques

insincere /ˌɪn.sɪnˈsɪər/
saying or doing something that you do not really mean or believe (Oxford); pretending to feel something that you do not really feel, or not meaning what you say (Cambridge)


an insincere apology
And all this praise just because the poor man has died - doesn't it strike you as a bit insincere?

character /ˈkær.ɪk.tər /
all the qualities and features that make a person, groups of people, and places different from others (Oxford)

The book gives a fascinating insight into Mrs Obama's character.
Generosity is part of the American character.
The character of the neighbourhood hasn't changed at all.

frankness /fræŋknəs/ (n.) frank (adj.)
honest and direct in what you say, sometimes in a way that other people might not like (Oxford)

They outlined their aims with disarming frankness.

a report of most alarming nature

What was the report? That Eliza Bennett was engaged to her nephew! That would be most 'alarming' indeed!

alarming /əˈlɑː.mɪŋ/
causing worry or fear (Cambridge); frightening or worrying

The rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate.

I shall not choose /tʃuːz/ to answer
You may ask me questions, but I may not answer them because I may not choose to do so.

allurements (n.) /əˈljʊərmənt /, /-ˈlʊərmənt / allure (vb.)

1) the act of alluring.
2) fascination or attraction.
3) someone or something that is thought to be fascinating, attractive, charming, appealing, etc. (Chambers)

Thank you, friends, for trying my exercise. I hope you enjoyed it and that it helped to improve your listening skills. Perhaps I can coax a few more out of the woodwork next time (ariane6, dear, where are you? ). Violet suggested that I post something more contemporary such as an excerpt from 'House, MD'. If there is anything that particularly interests you such as a favourite film or TV program, either British or American, please let me know and I'll try to post something from it. (And if you truly want to know how this one ends, let me know, otherwise I will look for something more interesting.)

lolilola (Welcome, newcomer)
headway (Thank you headway, you did really well, of course)
dolfine56 (Steadfast supporter of my exercises, thank you!)
peyton483 (Diligent and excellent student - perhaps you will post something next time!)
lucile83 (Dearest Lucile, the epitome of patience and diplomacy on the forum - too bad about that one word... )
violet91 (The epitome of devotion, passion and single-mindedness)