Original subtitles

SOBBING

The loss of my father was a leap into the unknown.

Longbourn was my childhood home.

And although I had my struggles here, it was all I had ever known.

From now on, would I be relying on the hospitality of my sisters?

Destined to spend my days as my mother's companion?

BLOWS NOSE LOUDLY

What other choice did I have?

I do not expect any of you to understand my pain.

The bond Mr Bennet and I shared was a rare thing.

I do not know that I shall ever eat again!

KNOCK AT DOOR

Who is that?

I do not know, Mama.

What sort of person would impinge

upon our hour of mourning so distastefully?

BABY CRIES

Charlotte! Oh, no...

I am afraid you find us in a state of some disarray.

Let me take him. Understandably!

We have been wanting to see you all since we heard the terrible news,

but knew you would need time as a family to...

To gather your things! Hmm!

Yourselves... Together, hmm.

I...I want to make it quite clear...

..quite clear that there's no rush for you to leave Longbourn.

Hmm! Thank you, Mr Collins.

You are quite welcome to stay here with us for a full...two weeks.

Two weeks?!

Mrs Bennet, there really is no hurry for you and Mary to leave...

But I-I have arranged some help with the packing.

Hmm! So, you are not obliged to undertake such a difficult

task during your hour of need!

Hmm.

Oh!

SHE SOBS

Mama, you must come and stay with Mr Bingley and I at Netherfield.

We have a number of cooks

and more servants than we know what to do with.

Oh, Jane! I would be delighted.

It would bring me great comfort to be in a sizeable property

with a large number of staff at my disposal.

Ha-ha! Ha-ha!

And, Mary, you of course, must come too.

Thank you. And if you're worried about company,

Caroline Bingley stays with us often.

Well, yes, but, erm...

..I-I have not yet thought through my future prospects...

Hmm, speaking of your prospects, Mary.

I have received a letter from my brother and his wife in London.

Their governess has been called back to Norfolk and they have asked me

to send you to stay with them until a suitable replacement is found.

SHE SNIGGERS Mary's going to be a governess!

Oh, Mary! I-I would very much like to help,

but, erm, you will need me, Mama.

I have already accepted their offer.

They're sending a carriage.

But, Mama, I... Do not worry about me, Mary,

I shall have Jane by my side.

Hmm...

Hmm!

If my options in life really were marriage or misery,

it looked very much as though I was destined for misery.

HORSE SNORTS

Mrs Bennet is...

..indisposed.

Oh.

Of course.

Thank you, Hill.

Erm...

What if the children don't like me?

Why should they not like you? You're a perfectly likeable soul.

I have nothing ready to teach them.

Mary, nobody knows more facts about...

..anything, than you.

It's time for you to get out and see the world!

Meet some other people that live in it.

I think it'll do you good.

Do not be frightened, Miss Mary.

Oh, no, I'm not, I'm not.

No, I'm just, erm...

Mary! Welcome! Oh, I am sorry!

You must be hungry after your journey.

Would you like some toasted cheese? But first, we'll show you your room.

Come in! Come in!

It's right at the top of the house,

so you won't be disturbed by the children.

How's your mother?

She's had a most trying time of late. Well, you all have.

Mother is well, thank you for enquiring.

And how are you, Mary?

It must have been a terrible shock.

It... It was.

Well, thank you for stepping in at such short notice.

We don't stand on ceremony here, especially with the children,

so if you don't mind that, you'll do well with us.

And the rest of your belongings will be brought up any moment.

Do you have all you need?

I do. Thank you.

Which mountain range is found at the end of your armies?

Oh, I know...

The Andes!

LAUGHTER

It's good. It's not so good.

Mary! Won't you join us for breakfast?

Oh, no, no, sir, thank you, sir. I am not at all hungry this morning.

Erm, I shall see the children upstairs.

Marianne, would you like to start?

Miss Bennet, it's a pleasure to meet you.

I am Marianne Gardiner and I'm 11 years old.

It's my pleasure to meet you too, Miss Marianne.

George.

Yes, thank you, George.

And this is...

This is Rebecca.

Thank you, Miss Rebecca.

"And if an organised body is not in the situation

"and circumstances best adapted to its sustenance

"and propagation, then, in conceiving an indefinite

"variety among the individuals of that species,

"we must be assured that on the one hand, those which depart most

"from the best adapted constitution, will be the most liable to perish." HE SNORES

We, er...

You've made him go to sleep.

SNORING CONTINUES

Let us move on to history, shall we?

Now, in 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America.

Now, where is America...?

Ah! Yes! America! Ah...

Where has Rebecca gone?

There were very clearly three of you in this room

when I began looking at the globe, and now there are two of you.

She vanished.

She's a magician.

Oh, magic is nothing but illusion and trickery.

Oh? Now, where could she be?

Tom! You're here! Tom, can we finish lessons now?

Yes! Now, forgive the intrusion, I came to tell you that dinner

is served and...

Well, you must be, Miss Bennet.

Well, I... I must be.

Oh, yes, I am.

Uh, Tom Hayward.

Friend of the family.

Aren't there normally three of you?

There were three, certainly...

but I was looking at America and when I looked back, there was...

SQUEALING

CHILDREN LAUGH

Do you have mice, Miss Bennet? CHILDREN GIGGLE

For if you do, might I suggest you do not keep them in the toy trunk.

Well, I... I wasn't sure. I thought perhaps mice like toy trunks.

No, you see, in there, they cannot get to their cheese.

It's actually, it's, erm... It's a fallacy, that mice like cheese.

Of course, they're much more partial to root vegetables and grains.

Yes, indeed.

FROM TRUNK: I'm a rabbit!

Mr...Hayward?

Mr Hayward, I am keeping a rabbit in the toy trunk,

because I, er...

Because rabbits are not at all social creatures. Exactly!

Yes, they are!

Now, why exactly do you have a new governess?

Is it that you keep eating them?

CHILDREN GIGGLE

Tom helped Edward with a legal matter some years ago

and we've been friends ever since.

He's another of our former lodgers.

Oh!

Yes. Oh...

What is a "revolutionary republican"?

Well, er, as discussed during the lesson,

they're often associated with Jacobinism.

But my point really was...

It sounds like you've had a very interesting first day, Miss Bennet.

Well, er... Have you read Catharine Macaulay, Miss Bennet?

Yes, I have! Yes!

Mary told us about smallpox and I shall never sleep again.

Well, er, you asked me to be truthful.

What's a "deadly rash"?

She said it can leave one blind or dead!

That is not quite how I put it. Blind or dead, she said.

Well, that is true.

There's a mortality rate of about...

BOTH: ..30%.

Exactly.

George cried three times.

There was something in my eye!

We held hands until Mary had finished talking.

Well, you're never too young to learn about life.

I think a game is in order, don't you?

I think that's a very good idea! Yes! Yes!

I'm first!

But what shall we play?

Graces! Ah!

Let's show Mary how to play Graces!

Yes! Yay! Marianne?

Well caught, Marianne!

Bravo!

Yours, Rebecca!

That counts!

It does indeed. Well done.

It does indeed.

Oh, no! Oh, Tom! You'll need to get someone to look at that.

Send it to Bly, she'll fix it for you.

Ready?

Marianne! Yes! Well done!

Fair play! You look like a wizard!

Yes!

Are you sure you won't join in, Mary?

Oh, er, no... I'm not... I'm not good at games.

Oh, that doesn't matter at all.

Yes! Well, you couldn't possibly be as ungainly as I am!

Really, I-I-I'd only spoil it.

George... Ready!

Oh...

Thank you.

Yes, Tom... To Mr Gardiner.

Ah!

KNOCK AT DOOR

Yes?

Mary?

Oh, do not look so grave, my dear, you are not in trouble!

With the weather getting warmer, we're about to become more sociable.

Oh... Oh, please do not feel any obligation to involve me.

I shall be quite content to stay upstairs with the children.

Mary! We want you to join us.

But I do not sparkle at dinners.

In our house, no-one is obliged to sparkle.

Then...

Of course.

But we need to get you properly dressed.

Oh... I thought perhaps tomorrow, we could go to the haberdasher's

and you could pick out some fabrics.

I do not really care for dresses.

Well, that's a shame. But very well.

Perhaps think about it, Mary.

There is a dress allowance as part of your governess wages.

I have thought about it.

And I would very much like to accept your kind offer.

That's excellent news.

Well, goodnight, Mary.

And thank you for today.

This must be such a change from Meryton.

It most certainly is! Here...

What do you think of the deep greens?

We have a soiree coming up. Now I think deep green would be perfect.

Mother has always said it's terribly difficult to get any colour

to work with my complexion. Really?

Well, perhaps your complexion's changed

because I can see many colours here which would work well on you.

But most important thing being is that you choose fabrics

that you truly like.

But Mother says that...

Mother isn't here.

Mrs Gardiner!

Ah! Miss Bennet. Tom!

Mr Hayward!

Have you brought your jacket to be mended?

I have just this minute dropped it off.

Well now that you're here, you can make yourself useful.

Miss Bennet needs to choose some dress fabric.

I, er, find myself quite overwhelmed by...by the choice.

Well, I shall be honest and say that my experience of picking dress fabric is limited...

Yes. ..to say the least. But I shall try...

Have you seen the names of these colours?

You've got, er, Dust of Ruins?

Er, Corbeau?

Or, erm, Flamme de Ponche, anyone?

Er, I think I shall take the Drake's Neck, with a splash of Nankeen!

Anyone for Gamboge?

Oh, well, I mean, that's just yellow, that one.

Yes. Yes.

Er, I think my advice would be to choose the colours that make

one feel most like oneself.

And I am sorry not to be of more use.

I should return to my desk.

And a particularly unexciting land negotiation.

Good day.

Good day.

Oh, poor Tom.

He works so hard. Really?

Underneath that light-hearted manner,

he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Now, have you decided?

I have chosen.

Very well, Mary.

The first is this crimson.

And then I thought perhaps a spring green trim.

Lovely!

But you will need two dresses, so perhaps...

..China blue?

Hmm...

Do you think a dress in the spring green alone would be garish?

What do you think, Mary?

Some people may think it is wild.

But...

..I like it.

Then, I think you should please yourself

and not worry what others may think. Thank you.

You have done a very good job.

Now...

Oh!

SHE GASPS

My gosh!

Ooh...

Uh, the Gardiners are out, buying shoes for the children.

Would you like to play Graces?

Uh... Well, erm, yes. Thank you.

Ready? Yes.

Oh! Ooh!

HE LAUGHS

I did it! You did! A natural!

Beginner's luck!

Right...

Ready? Mm...

Erm, one moment.

Oh.

Ready? Yes.

Oh...

Oh! Oh! Erm...

Er, yeah, erm... Er...

That's...probably enough...

Enough. ..Graces... Yes. ..for today.

Ah... Erm...

Oh, yes, er, I brought a book for Mrs Gardiner.

Oh! Of course, yes, er...

Ah, poetry. Hmm.

Do you like poetry, Miss Bennet?

I prefer facts to whimsy.

HE CHUCKLES

Whimsy?!

Er, I-I've tried er, well, Cowper, er, Byron,

even some Dryden, but, erm...

..well, it seems to me that it's all just...

..words...

What were you expecting?

Are you a scholar, sir?

No, I'm a barrister.

Junior.

And though the law is my business, poetry is my passion.

What do you like to read?

Er, works of nonfiction.

Histories and, er, and geology.

And what do you like to read for pleasure?

That is reading for pleasure.

There is nothing you like about poetry?

Some poems are mercifully short.

HE LAUGHS

Well, now that you have thrown down the gauntlet,

I will not rest until you have appreciated the merits of poetry.

I believe that this is the book that will open

the heart of Miss Mary Bennet!

Oh?!

The Gardiners are home. Oh, ah, yes. Yes. Of course.

Er, well... Yes.

Erm... Coats off. Yes, Mother.

Oh, Tom!

SHE EXHALES

And we'll need more scallops.

Mrs Cholmondeley will claim she couldn't possibly

before helping herself to seven!

Must be very strange without your family here.

No, there was always at least one argument about stolen perfume.

Mary, you look lovely.

I'm not sure.

I think we should let your hair fall naturally.

No point trying to force it into curls if it doesn't want to go.

Here...

LIVELY CHATTER

Erm... I mean that... That's basically it,

but they're awfully fun to...hunt!

Mm.

THEY CHUCKLE

Hmm.

Good evening!

I do not believe we have met. I am Miss Baxter.

D-delighted to meet you, Miss Baxter.

Erm, I am Miss Bennet.

I have not long moved to London from Hertfordshire.

Ah.

MOUTH FULL: Fanshaw. Mr Fanshaw.

A... A friend of my mother's died eating those nuts.

Er, one got stuck in his throat and that was it -

he was quite dead in minutes.

MISS BAXTER CHUCKLES

Oh, I hope I didn't cause any offence.

That was marvellous!

Oh, I shall keep that story in mind

for when I want to be rid of someone.

Forgive me, it wasn't deliberate.

I HATE the first 20 minutes of these evenings.

As do I.

I never know who to talk to

and I often find myself saying the wrong thing.

Your dress is striking. It looks very well on you.

Do you really think so? I feel a little bold in it.

Well, you're in London, Miss Bennet.

If you are going to be bold, here is the place to do it.

MISS BAXTER CHUCKLES

Perhaps London will be the start of something new for you.

Perhaps it will!

And if you want to be shown around town, I could call on you?

MISS BAXTER CHUCKLES

INTERNALLY: London, it turned out,

was a place of learning, as much as teaching.

A place of trying new things.

And though I had never liked change...

..I seemed to be enjoying myself.

Much about me felt different after just one week.

Being here had lifted my spirits.

I felt something long forgotten.

Hope.

Are you looking for someone? Oh, erm... No.

You must tell me all about it in a moment.

Mary, there's a gentleman I'd like you to meet.

We have something of an understanding.

Please may I introduce Mr Tom Hayward.

Er, we've... We've already met.

Miss Bennet. Oh, of course! You must have.

Oh, I see you went for the Pomona trim.

Er, it's, erm...spring green. It's quite different to Pomona.

Well, it suits you very well.

Tom! Excuse us, ladies.

You must come and meet my colleague, Mr May.

Mr May, allow me to present...

Mr Hayward and I met three years ago this spring.

We are hoping to be married next year.

INTERNALLY: Not everything went exactly as I would have liked.

Come on!

Oh. Please excuse us. Of course.

Come, Mary. It'll be fun.

INTERNALLY: Of course a man such as Mr Hayward

would have secured a match.

But I had made friends

and that...was enough.

I did not know what tomorrow would bring.

But for now...

..at least I had someone to dance with.