- Mr. Knightley: [of Frank] He doesn't come here for 20 years and then disappears for a day.
- Emma Woodhouse: He had important business.
- [pause while Mr. Knightley looks at her quizzically]
- Emma Woodhouse: He's gone to London to have his hair cut.
- Mr. Knightley: His hair cut? Imperative business indeed.
- Emma Woodhouse: [helping Harriet understand Mr. Elton's riddle] Well look here, "The wealth and pomp of kings." Kings. What does that suggest?
- [Harriet stares blankly at the page]
- Emma Woodhouse: [prompting] Perhaps court. And "the monarch of the seas." Seas?
- [Harriet looks at her confused]
- Emma Woodhouse: [prompting] Maybe a ship.
- Harriet Smith: Ship? Court? Shipcourt!
- Mr. Woodhouse: Poor Miss Taylor. We hardly ever see her now.
- Emma: Father, we have only missed seeing them one day since they were married!
- Mr. Knightley: Well, I was your considerable superior in years when you were the age of little Emma here.
- [gestures toward infant niece]
- Emma: And I am sure that you were by far my superior in judgment when I was. But surely we have grown closer in judgment as the years have passed?
- Mr. Knightley: Well, I had the advantage of not being a pretty woman and a spoiled child.
- Emma: I think to set off like that, impulsively, recklessly even, to risk disobeying his aunt in order to do a duty to his father shows a fineness of spirit in Mr. Churchill, a keenness of feeling, a most romantic nature and a thoroughly good heart.
- Mr. Knightley: It's the horse I'm sorry for!
- Emma: For my part, it only makes my anticipation of meeting this young man even stronger. Any woman would respond to such heroic, gentlemanly impulses.
- Mr. Knightley: I thought gentlemen always rode in carriages?
- Isabella Knightley: If we get stuck in a ditch, I can walk.
- John Knightley: In those shoes? I don't think so.
- Mr. Elton: How brightly they shine. How fortunate that we are alone. It must be written in the stars! Miss Woodhouse, make me the happiest man in the world. I adore you. Of course, it will not be a surprise. I will die if you refuse me.
- Harriet Smith: I do try so hard to forget about Mr. Elton, but he is such a superior example of manhood.
- Mr. Knightley: He doesn't come here for 20 years and then he disappears for a day?
- Emma: He has urgent business. He has gone to London to have his hair cut.
- Mr. Knightley: His hair cut? Of course, imperative business indeed.
- Emma: A gentleman would never risk a lady's reputation, unless, of course, he was most ardently in love.