Chapter 18 #2
“Not so hasty, if you please. I have by no means done,” said the lady. “You have now presented two points of confusion, and I will not be satisfied until both are answered. What could you possibly mean?”
Much to Elizabeth’s surprise, Mr Darcy chuckled and answered in her stead.
“Miss Bennet may well be the cleverest woman I know, but this particular bit of discourse is not so confusing. She has presented two puzzles, if we may call them such. I can easily understand the first, but the second is a mystery.”
Elizabeth stared at the man in confusion. The grin on his face was unusual; the chuckle, unprecedented; his defence of her argument, alarming.
Besides, she had to sheepishly admit—to herself, but not another soul in the world—that he was exceedingly handsome when he did not look quite so foreboding.
Lady Catherine’s voice dragged Elizabeth’s attention back to the group. “It would seem my nephew has laid down the gauntlet. Perhaps you could explain your second mystery, without introducing any others, since we do not have all night.”
Elizabeth wrenched her scattered attention from the ever-confusing Mr Darcy back.
Lady Catherine leaned forward and spoke emphatically. “3 decades ago, I was your age and double your impertinence. I do not scare easily.”
For what must surely be the first time in many years, everyone in Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s drawing room laughed uproariously, if in some confusion.
Lady Catherine looked at her carefully. “We await enlightenment, wonder, and astonishment at your astute observations.”
“To fully answer the question about why I am surprised you would advocate against women perusing such subjects, I shall need a few numbers and an anecdote or two. I hope you will not mind.”
“I am not afraid of you.”
“I should hope not! You see, I chatted with your steward about a week ago—lovely man, and his wife makes scones one would give much for—but I digress. We spoke of the fields in the north-west corner of the home farm, about a mile from the parsonage. I was interested in them because a flower I did not know grew there, but my native curiosity got too much to bear. They lie adjacent to the glebe, which William plans to lease out, so the yields should be similar.”
William added, “At your direction, dear sister.”
Everyone shifted their attention to him for a moment, so he elaborated. “Elizabeth suggested it, and even worked out the finances. We are making plans.”
Surprisingly, Mr Darcy said, “Well done! If I may aid your endeavour in any way, pray ask.”
“My thanks, Mr Darcy. I will accept your generous offer should the need arise—but I interrupted my sister.”
Elizabeth smiled at her brother. She liked him more and more as time went on.
“Your steward told me the yields on that field increased by over 25% in the past 20 years. For example, the wheat increased from around 13 bushels an acre to nearly 17. The rye part of the cycle increased from around 14-17. An impressive improvement, if I may be so bold as to say.”
“I attribute it mostly to the Norfolk four-course system of crop rotation. Are you familiar with it?”
“I tried to get my father to adopt it without success. William, Mary, and I are trying to work out a way to sneak it in under his nose to our mutual benefit. I discussed it at some length with Mr Mallon.”
“And this applies to your current mystery how, exactly?”
“Unless your family Bible is not to be trusted, your husband has been gone around 20 years. When the estate adopted the four-course system, your trustworthy nephews were 8 years old. Unless your brother was unusually active, Occam’s razor suggests you made the change—or at the very least, you directed your steward to do so. Am I correct?”
Lady Catherine sat very still for a moment, then chuckled, letting it rise into a laugh.
“You caught me out. I now understand your mystery. You found no evidence that anybody but me implemented the change, and therefore assert that I engage in such unladylike pursuits as the study of crop rotation and the like. Purely deductive reasoning, just as you say.”
Elizabeth left her seat and took an empty stool near the lady.
“Your nephews come here 2-3 weeks per year. That leaves you mistress for 49-50, or 94-96% of the time. People in the village seem reasonably happy and prosperous, though dependent on Rosings for their living. The estate is hardly falling down around your ears, so am I wrong to assert that you are a good master—either despite your sex, or because of it?”
The lady chuckled. “Well! I have been waiting for someone to best me at a battle of wits for some time. I graciously concede.”
“Your defeat does not seem so terrible.”
They held each other’s gaze for half a minute, and Lady Catherine turned to Darcy. He observed the pair of them as if he had never seen anything quite like it in his life—probably a fair assessment.
“Darcy, perhaps you might explain the first mystery, since you seem so inclined to demonstrate your cleverness.”
“You may not come off so well in that one. Should we leave well enough alone?”
“Not for the world.”
Curiosity filled Elizabeth. His expression baffled her.
In an ordinary man, it might look much like a mischievous smirk, but in that gentleman, it was both softer and harder, as if he had shut his feelings away in a drawer for several years and they did not quite fit any more.
Considering he became master of an enormous estate when he was about Jane’s age, that might actually be the case.
Elizabeth laughed. “In the words of Lady Catherine, I am not afraid of you.”
Darcy smiled. Surprised into returning one of her own, Elizabeth reflected that it might be the first unforced smile she had ever given the gentleman. She did not expect to repeat it, but one never knows.
“We return to the first mystery. Miss Bennet knows that a lady of your station is expected to have music as an accomplishment. You yourself asserted a natural talent. You also asserted that ill children cannot apply themselves. Miss Bennet generalised to imagine you must have been ill as a child, since nothing else she could think of would explain your abundance of talent but dearth of application, considering how much you emphasise the need of practice for all young ladies.”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Lady Catherine chuckled, then laughed openly. “I see you have abandoned Mr Occam entirely. You forgot that the simplest explanation is usually the best.”
“Which is?”
“I was lazy. Your younger sisters are paragons of industry compared to my early life.”
Whether she should be amused or mortified, Elizabeth could not tell, but Lady Catherine laughed again. “I cannot ever remember being better entertained in this room. Ill child indeed!”
They went in to supper, which was much livelier than before, and at the proper time, the Collins party left for the parsonage.
For the second time, Mr Darcy surprised Elizabeth by handing her into the carriage, and for the second time, he squeezed her hand just a touch more than propriety demanded.
Perplexing, perplexing, vexing man! She turned his contradictions over until sleep finally overcame her.