Chapter 31
Multiple Reflections
“Lizzy, what in the world are you speaking of, asking to see both Mother and me? Are you insane?”
Anne was agitated, which might be good or bad. She ought to stop mentally preening and chattering if she meant to answer her friend.
“Those are two separate questions. Which should I answer first?”
Anne looked flummoxed. She had gone from Elizabeth to Lizzy over the missing day, which was definitely a good thing… maybe… probably.
Anne calmed, signalled the footman to leave them, and waited until he moved out of hearing. “Let us start with the first, as the answer may shed light on the second. I thought you would read my journals and talk to me about it, not my mother. What sort of mirror are you?”
Elizabeth smiled, not particularly flustered by Anne’s discomposure. She wanted her just a touch nervous. In fact, she wanted to see anything other than the complacency of the previous month. Even a Lydia style screaming fit—at least old Lydia—would not be entirely out of place.
“We are up to 3 questions. Let me add a 4th. Let us suppose we both wish to attend a ball together, and need to ensure our gowns and hairstyles matched each other to produce a specific effect. How would we resolve it, so we could both be certain we were discussing the same thing in the same manner?”
Anne looked confused. “I suppose we would both have to look in the same mirror, so we saw the same thing.”
“Correct! How about this… does a mirror show truth?”
“Of course.”
“Are you certain?”
Anne paused, as if unused to defending her thoughts, and finally admitted, “I suppose they are not perfect.”
“No, they are not. They are approximations at best, and they can be deceptive. Every mirror swaps right for left. I have also seen mirrors that make things bigger, smaller, fatter, thinner, and so forth. Make one with coloured glass, and I might conclude you are a mermaid. Every mirror distorts; at best you get a likeness approximating reality. That is the nature of mirrors.”
“I think my cousin’s analogy is breaking down.”
“Perhaps, but let us return to my earlier hypothetical about two ladies wishing to attend a ball together and ensuring they made the correct impression as a pair. You said they both must look in the same mirror at the same time.”
“Yes, otherwise they will be comparing different perspectives, or their lighting might be different.”
“Anne, you and your mother need to go to the metaphorical ball together.”
Anne stared at her friend, and finally grumbled, “You do not really know my mother. This could end badly.”
“If you are afraid and wish to abandon the enterprise, that is your right. My uncle’s carriage arrived an hour ago to fetch me back to London and thence to Longbourn.
He will retrieve me at the front door in exactly 93 minutes.
If you wish, you may take your journals back, and we will simply have tea with your mother, and I will be on my way. ”
“I would rather you just tell me what you saw.”
“I can be easy or effective. I dislike being difficult, but I fear it is all or nothing.”
Anne fixed her with a ferociously intimidating glare like her mother’s, while Elizabeth waited patiently for the minor bout of easily ignored petulance to spend itself.
At last, Anne said, “Fine, I believe you have answered the last remaining question. You are mad. Let us go—Mother will be waiting.”
~~~
Elizabeth entered the parlour with Anne following slightly to her right and half hiding behind her. Elizabeth did not mind. She asked the footman to set two valises near the sofa, thanked him kindly, and approached.
“Lady Catherine, thank you for seeing me.”
“I can hardly resist. Your note was most mysterious. Anne, after considerable prodding, mentioned something about a mirror. I can hardly make any sense of it.”
Elizabeth took a deep breath.
“Before we begin, may I stipulate that I am acting on my own, from a duty imposed by a dear friend’s request. I hope I will not offend you, but just in case I do, I apologise in advance and ask you not to visit your displeasure on anybody else.”
“What do you take me for, Miss Bennet?”
“To be honest, I take you for a formidable woman. I must confess to admiring you, though for different reasons than the usual.”
“How so? I have mentioned my frankness, so it seems reasonable to expect the same of you, so you may speak freely. Do not fear I will fail to convey my sentiments—subtlety is not among my more developed talents.”
Elizabeth laughed. “As expected. It would take a real simpleton to think otherwise, but, like you, I find it best to be explicit.”
“You have me full of curiosity. What is it you plan to shed light on?”
“It is a rather private matter. I have been asked to offer guidance based on my facility with mathematics—or more likely, a combination of mathematics and social analysis.”
Lady Catherine harrumphed, which was not particularly ladylike, but Elizabeth enjoyed it anyway. “Mathematics is more the province of men, but since we discussed that topic in this very room a few weeks ago, I suppose this is no time to be missish?”
She raised her voice slightly so the footman could hear. “James, might you take the mysterious Miss Bennet’s valises to the yellow parlour, and have tea brought.”
“Why the yellow parlour, Mama? We have not been there for years.”
“We have had no occasion, but it seems appropriate for this moment.”
“I suppose so.”
Elizabeth wondered what magical properties this yellow parlour possessed. She had never seen anything remotely like it, but the house was so large it could have a folly or cricket field she was unaware of.
~~~
The yellow parlour turned out to be the smallest room she knew of at Rosings.
Mrs Bennet’s closet was about the same size.
It barely had room for one very small round table with three chairs and 10 feet of space around it.
A small tea table stood in the corner, but otherwise it was the plainest room Elizabeth had seen in some time.
Lady Catherine walked in. “Pray, choose your chair.”
“I suppose I must choose at random. There seems nothing to distinguish one from another.”
“Exactly! That was my purpose. My husband called this the Arthurian Parlour; the reference to the Round Table obvious. He came here when he wanted a meeting of equals.”
“I can see why you do not use it much, my lady. I cannot imagine you having many equals to deal with.”
The lady sighed. “I do not. I hope, for your sake, that you do not have to claw your way through a man’s world. As you well know, women are perfectly capable, but everything we do, must be done twice as well as a man just to get any credit. It is exhausting.”
“Why not take another husband, if I may be so bold?”
“Quite frankly, I take responsibility for the estate seriously and never liked any man well enough to hand it over. Men have all the power in a marriage, so if a woman like me marries, I go from a position of absolute power over my fate to being the legal property of a man. I never met a man I was willing to trust that much.”
Carefully, Elizabeth asked, “Do you believe such men do not exist?”
Lady Catherine took her hand. “Do not take the musings of a cynical old woman to heart. Good men exist, and given more effort, I might have found one.”
“Do you regret that?”
“Sometimes, but not often. Let us sit and see what you have to say.”
The ladies took their seats around the small table. The footman put Elizabeth’s valises beside her chair, and Lady Catherine dismissed the servants and poured the tea herself.
They allowed the tea to steep and enjoyed a few excellent biscuits.
Elizabeth sighed. “I suppose I must get on with it.”
“Please,” said Anne, who had said practically nothing during the encounter thus far.