“Yes, but perhaps geometry or aesthetics might be involved. Mayhap you find it fitting for a man to be substantially taller than you.”
“I really cannot follow your reasoning. I admit to some preference for tall men, but I can assure you that Mr Oakley is… tall enough.”
Lady Catherine leaned forward. “Perhapstall enough, but there could be other hidden objections—meaning hidden from you but not from me.”
Quite confused, Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in query.
“Perhaps his hair is not black enough for your preference, or his horse not white enough, or his jackets not—”
Elizabeth interrupted with an awkward laugh. “Or his manners aretoo engaging, or his pridetoo regulated, or his—”
“We seem to be converging on the same idea. Shall I summarise? He is a perfectly good man for dancing, conversation, acquaintance, friendship, lifelong friendship, andmaybemore; but he currently suffers from the defect ofnotbeing your Mr Darcy.”
“He is not my Mr Darcy,” she said, less emphatically than before.
Lady Catherine leaned towards Elizabeth and took one of her hands. “I am curious. If he is notyour Mr Darcy,thenwhat exactly is he?”
“You are worse than my father, and he is worse than an inquisitor.”
Not one to take such bait, Lady Catherine waited.
“What have you surmised?” Elizabeth finally asked when it became obvious she would not outwait the lady.
“I was not born yesterday. I have known Fitzwilliam man and boy. He came to Rosings confused. Midway through his visit, he became briefly happier than I have ever seen him. Later the same day he looked like he had been beaten with a stick, and a day later, he was… well, I cannot quite work out what hewas when he left. He was a changed man, and your Mr Occam suggestsyoumust have wrought the change.”
The reference puzzled Elizabeth, but Lady Catherine continued, “You left Rosings, but your sister remains and she is not known for reticence. And, of course, my recently abandoned daughter at Longbourn still has pen and paper. I have learnt a great deal about you.”
“And what is your conclusion, if I might be so bold as to ask?”
“I will not give you aconclusion. Let us look at the alternative definitions for that word. The first, which I am certain you employed, is ‘a judgement or decision reached by reasoning’. It may also mean ‘the end or finish of an event or process’. At the moment, I have opinionssupported by reason, but they are half guesswork. As to theend or finish, I am in no way convinced that the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy is anywhere near a conclusion.”
Elizabeth stared at her. “I can see I need to—”
“Need to what, Miss Bennet?”
“Never mind. If you are pushing me towards an alliance with Mr Darcy, you will simply join a long line of others who precede you.”
“And yet you do not agree?”
“I do not know. I am… well, I do not quite understand how I feel.”
To confess anything so weak as confusion was hard, but Lady Catherine seemed as good a confidante as any.
“You put me in mind of Plato’s shadows[xxiv],”
“I do not know about those.”
“It is from hisAllegory of the Cave,fromThe Republic. Plato imagines a group of people who live their entire lives chained to the wall of a cave, with a fire behind them. They spend all theirtime looking at the shadows on the wall. They give them names, study their movements, and try to work out the natural laws of shadows.”
“Do go on. It sounds fascinating.”
“Suppose the prisoners manage to break their bonds one day, escape to the light, and discover the world was not as they had known it. Would they accept the new world in all its confusing glory, retreat to their chains, or spend the rest of their lives vacillating between the two?”
“That last part sounds like you made it up.”
“It is an allegory—intended to encouragethought, not rote memorisation.”
“I agree. So, what about this allegory reminds you of me, or what about me reminds you of the allegory?”
