Answer:
a formal or explicit statement or announcement
<span>The characters in Pygmalion are:</span>
<span>1. Henry Higgins - professor of
phonetics (the trainer of Eliza)</span>
<span>2. Eliza Doolittle - transformed flower girl (she
was helped by Prof. Higgins)</span>
<span>3. Colonel Pickering - considerate gentleman (friend of
Prof. Higgins)</span>
<span>4. Alfred Doolittle - disreputable
dustman (the father of Eliza)</span>
<span>5. Mrs. Higgins - dignified lady (the mother of Prof. Higgins)</span>
<span>6. Mrs. Pearce - perceptive housekeeper (housekeeper of Prof.
Higgins)</span>
<span>7. Freddy Eynsford Hill - lovesick coward (the man who fell in love
with Eliza at first sight)</span>
The servants do not "abscond" because Montresor tells them to stay at home; they do so because he tells them he will be gone all night. They don't care if he finds out that they all left to join in the carnival. He can't fire them because he can't get anybody to replace them.