In answer to Pickering's queries as to his character where women are concerned, Higgins assures him that he has no place for them in his life (I'm an ordinary man). Although she is suspicious of his dictatorial attitude, Eliza is mollified by Pickering's more courteous attitude and decides to stay she is taken off by Mrs Pearce to be bathed. Intrigued, he accepts Pickering's proposal of a bet that he can pass her off as a duchess at the end of six months. His initial interest is dispelled when he finds it is Eliza, whose speech he already has a record of, but she, having overheard his remarks about improving her accent, insists she wants lessons. Higgins is demonstrating his methods to Pickering, when Mrs Pearce, his housekeeper, announces a young woman with a dreadful accent. Scene 2: Tenement section, Tottenham Court RoadÄoolittle learns of Eliza's good fortune but fails to get any money out of her, despite his view that it is the duty of children to support their parents (With a little bit of Luck). He invites Pickering to stay with him, throwing Eliza a pocketful of money, arousing the envy of her friends (Wouldn't it be Loverley). Higgins complains that most Englishmen are incapable of speaking their own language properly (Why Can't the English) - Eliza's accent will keep her in the gutter but in six months he could teach her to speak so well that she would pass muster at an embassy ball. Her lamentations are taken down by a bystander, at first suspected of being a policeman, but soon revealed to be Henry Higgins, an expert on phonetics, who astounds everyone by his ability to identify their life stories from their speech, including Colonel Pickering, an expert on Indian dialects, who has come to London to meet Higgins. As people leaving the opera look for taxis, Freddy Eynsford Hill accidentally knocks over Eliza's basket of flowers.
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