Linguist and bachelor Professor Henry Higgins meets Eliza Doolittle, the daughter of dustman Alfred Doolittle, while she is selling violets by the Royal Opera House on a cold March evening. Later, she seeks out Higgins for speech lessons so she can become “a lady and have her own flower shop”. Higgins and Colonel Pickering, also a linguist, make a bet on whether Higgins can teach Eliza to speak correctly. After weeks of hard work, she is presented and tested at the Ascot Derby, but falls through when she cheers for one of the horses she has bet on. Six weeks later, she is introduced at the Embassy Ball and everyone wonders who she is. Higgins and Pickering wallow in self-satisfaction over their achievement, completely overlooking Eliza’s own efforts. This infuriates Eliza and she storms out of the house. After Eliza leaves him, Higgins realizes that he has grown accustomed to her and can hardly live without her.