Part 33 (1/2)

LADY CATHERINE.

[_Without leaving her seat, looks_ ELIZABETH _over from head to foot_.]

Oh, how do you do, Miss Bennet. You are younger than I thought!

ELIZABETH.

[_Smiling._] Indeed?

LADY CATHERINE.

You know my nephew, Mr. Darcy?

ELIZABETH.

Yes, I met him in Hertfords.h.i.+re.

LADY CATHERINE.

Humph! And you know Colonel Fitzwilliam?

ELIZABETH.

I have only met Colonel Fitzwilliam since coming here.

LADY CATHERINE.

Humph! Has your governess left you?

ELIZABETH.

[_Half laughs._] My sisters and I have never had a governess, Madam.

LADY CATHERINE.

No governess! I never heard of such a thing! Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education.

ELIZABETH.

[_Smiling._] I a.s.sure you she was not, Lady Catherine.

LADY CATHERINE.