Jane fearfully pantomimed opening the box and dumping her politeness and other attributes into it. She closed it and faced her sister and Mr Jameson.
Elizabeth said, “Here we all are. Mr Jameson, I promised you some simple mathematics—comparisons, thresholds, and scaling; but may we first divert to philosophy?”
Jane said, “I know you eventually start making sense, Lizzy, but this is not a promising beginning.”
All three chuckled, which was her intent all along.
Elizabeth took moderate satisfaction in the couple. Their countenances showed equal measures of hope and fear. They had both shown some measure offaiththat she could resolve their difficulty. Their faith was misplaced, of course, but as with all questions, faith itself might be the tonic they needed.
These thoughts were not helpful, so she brought herself back to the problem at hand by squeezing her fingernails into her palm—a useful trick she relied on all too often.
“I will return to the most ancient of questions. This was a well-established and frankly unanswerable debate in Aristotle’s time, well over 2,000 years ago. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
The question was a complete non-sequitur by design, so the pair looked at her in confusion.
Elizabeth explained, “It is simple. You both want trust and love. Toreceivetrust and love, you mustgivetrust and love. You are each afraid to be the first to give them, which in turn leaves you unable to receive them. You are caught on the horns of a dilemma, victims of circular reasoning. You cannot have a chicken without an egg, nor an egg without a chicken.”
Jane and Mr Jameson stared at her a moment before Jane said, “I suppose you have a mathematical answer.”
“I do. As I said, we will use comparisons, thresholds, and proportional scaling.”
Elizabeth boldly took hold of both her students. “Now, I want you to stand back-to-back. We will make a metaphorical egg.”
Both looked perplexed, but since Elizabeth had cleverly manoeuvred them into a private stand of trees, they sheepishly complied, standing about a foot apart. Ensuring they were unobserved, Elizabeth did something outrageous. She reached around Jane’s waist and pressed her backward until she stood back-to-back with the gentleman.
Jane gasped, but Elizabeth continued relentlessly.
“Quit whingeing, Jane. Remember your embarrassment is still over in the box. You may retrieve it when we finish.”
The couple stood in perhaps their first contact beyond gloved hands. The situation was both thrilling and mortifying—exactly as Elizabeth wanted.
“Very well, now hold your hands in front where I can see them.”
Both looked confused, which was also by Elizabeth’s design, but did as she asked.
“Now, we will do some scaling using comparisons and thresholds. I want each of you to think of a scale of attraction between two people. We shall say that 1 is a couple that canbarely tolerate each other—our parents, for example. 5 is a couple that rubs along well enough but is not particularly in love, say Lady Lucas and Sir William. 10 is a couple fully in a loving union of respect, felicity, and love—perhaps Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, or Mary and William. Do you have that in your minds?”
Both nodded, which made them bump their heads, since they had unconsciously pressed together into tighter contact than even Elizabeth insisted on.
“When I clap my hands, I want you both to raise the number of fingers for what youthink you might have with the other, if you could just get over your fear.”
She waited almost a minute to build tension before clapping her hands. She was most gratified to see 18 fingers—a respectable score.
She laughed and used her boot to drag a line in the dirt in front of Jane’s feet, and another in front of Mr Jameson. She walked in front of Jane and dragged two more to form a square.
She pointed at the square. “See those lines?”
Both nodded.
“That is your box. You both want the same thing, and you did not need my services at all. I will accept my superfluousness after you turn around—but stay in your box.”
With a laugh, both members of the newly acknowledged couple managed to turn and face each other, though it took several tumultuous minutes—holding each other up by the arms, wrapping their arms completely around each other—before the manoeuvre was complete. Once they faced each other, they smiled and laughed nervously.
Elizabeth said, “I am turning around now. Enjoy the last few minutes before your boxes open again. Goodbye.”
~~~
A few hours later, Elizabeth sat in the parlour with Jane. The couple had decided on a proper formal courtship. They requested and received consent. Being of age, Jane did not need it, but it would have been disrespectful to carry on in her uncle’s house without it.
