The gentleman began to notice signs in the lady he had never paid attention to. Her demeanour showed restlessness, so he stepped beside her and offered his arm. She took it without qualms and practically pulled him along.
He followed her pace for 50-60 steps before he broke the silence. “Would you care to hear my cousin’s description ofme?”
“I thought I just did,” Elizabeth said, perplexed.
“No, that was what the mirror showed thatI should be thinking about myself, not what my cousin thinks of me.”
“I am all fascination. Before we diverge, though, are you convinced of your cousin’s assessment that I am a mirror?”
“I am. I have a few more examples, sufficient to convince me.”
“Perhaps I am one of those mirrors that distorts and magnifies certain aspects.”
“If you would have it so.”
“What did your cousin thinkyouare, if I may ask?”
Darcy chuckled. “A certain amount of brandy preceded his assessment, but in the end, he decided I am astatue.”
“A statue?” Elizabeth laughed. “I can see his point, I suppose. What was his reasoning?”
“He asserted I am a reasonably handsome man—”
“Very handsome!” The words escaped Elizabeth without thought. Heat rushed into her face, and she fixed her eyes on the path while he chuckled and continued.
“He also said I naturally prefer to spend my time on my pedestal being admired rather than mixing with mere mortals.”
Elizabeth started to speak, but he forestalled her. “Do not disagree, Miss Mirror, unless you can presentevidence.”
She fumed for a moment, but eventually admitted defeat with a shake of her head.
“He says that, just like a statue, people stare at what Iappearto be, not what Iam. The statue appears to stand for all that is noble and great and beautiful in the human experience, but underneath, it is just a rock. A rock carved into a statue becomes something new, but a statue’s subject is often misrepresented. The great general who won the battle gets a statue, though hespent twice the lives it should have required, or the battle was not worth fighting in the first place, or the spoils were lost a year or two later. There are statues in London for great men whose greatness was nothing but support for slavery or some other injustice.”
“I suppose statues try to show an image of something great, but I do not see how this applies to you.”
“It applies perfectly well. When I slighted you at that assembly, I did not want to be there mixing with people of no importance in the world. I saw no beauty, no grace, no fashion—need I continue?”
Tears came to Elizabeth’s eyes, but her basic honesty forbade any answer other than a nod.
Her distress must have shown, for the gentleman continued. “Of course, he also may have mentioned that a statue that is not taken care of, revered, cleaned, and so forth eventually ends up just a rock covered in bird dung.”
A most satisfying laugh escaped her, though she remained much like a seesaw.
“Who would have thought? A mirror and a statue.”
State Changes
They walked on in silence for a time, thinking about mirrors and statues, and the man finally asked timidly, “You said that before yesterday, you entertained the idea that we might befriends.”
“I did.”
“And now?”
“I do not know. Have you studied physics?”
“I did at Cambridge.”
“Then you are aware of the difference betweenpermanent changesandstate changes?State changes are reversible, and permanent changes are not. Cool water enough, and it freezes, but if you heat it back up, you get the same water. Fire is not reversible. Burn something and nothing can change it back.”
