Benedick, alone in the orchard, declares that no woman could ever make him abandon his bachelor's contempt for love. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato then stage a conversation for the hidden Benedick to overhear, insisting that Beatrice is secretly dying of love for him but is too proud to confess it. Benedick, persuaded almost at once, resolves to return her love. Beatrice enters briefly to call him to dinner, and Benedick reads her curtness as concealed feeling.
Benedick, alone in the orchard, declares that no woman could ever make him abandon his bachelor's contempt for love. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato then stage a conversation for the hidden Benedick to overhear, insisting that Beatrice is secretly dying of love for him but is too proud to confess it. Benedick, persuaded almost at once, resolves to return her love. Beatrice enters briefly to call him to dinner, and Benedick reads her curtness as concealed feeling.