Their party in the dining-room was large, for almost all the Lucases came to meet Maria and hear the news; and various were the subjects that occupied them: Lady Lucas was inquiring of Maria, after the welfare and poultry of her eldest daughter; Mrs. Bennet was doubly engaged, on one hand collecting an account of the present fashions from Jane, who sat some way below her, and, on the other, retailing them all to the younger Lucases; and Lydia, in a voice rather louder than any other person's, was enumerating the various pleasures of the morning to anybody who would hear her.
Mrs. Bennet két irányban is el volt foglalva: egyrészt a legújabb divatról számoltatott be magának Jane-nel, aki néhány székkel lejjebb ült, másrészt rögtön továbbadta a felvilágosításokat az ifjabb Lucas leányoknak. De mindnyájukat túlharsogta Lydia - ő az aznap délelőtti szórakozásokat sorolta fel mindazok számára, akiknek kedvük volt őt hallgatni.