Ursula

Ursula moves through Leonato's household as Hero's trusted attendant, privy to weddings, wardrobes, and the small conspiracies of courtship. When Hero stages the conversation meant to make Beatrice overhear that Benedick loves her, Ursula supplies the skeptical counterpoint — asking whether the prince truly vouched for it, whether Beatrice's scorn might turn love into sport — and her doubts sharpen the bait. Her image of angling for a fish that 'greedily devour[s] the treacherous bait' names the play's whole method: affection caught by listening.