That Sir Walter, small of mind and very narrow in his interests, finds himself in a town (albeit a fashionable one), where, as you say, Maisy, he outranks most of the people therein. And he a baronet!! All the fuss over Lady Dalrymple and Miss Carteret. Blimey. What if there'd been an Earl, or a Duke in town? Poor Sir Walter's nerves. ;-)