| He may have had a bit too much to drink at the ball, plus he's been mostly hanging out with Higgins all night. He's certainly rather uninhibited when he leads off that number so jubilantly, even though he's lost the bet. Eliza has been dancing with others, including the Prince and Karpathy most of the evening and probably not staying with Higgins and Pickering most of the time. Of course, it's also a dramatic device for Eliza to get mad at Higgins and to later hurl his slippers at him. It's meant to get the audience more on Eliza's side when it's noticed by us that everyone is singing during that number except her. Otherwise, Pickering is very much a gentleman and treats her well. |
