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 tomeabout 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 seeanythingother 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 approximationsat 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 amirror. 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 adutyimposed 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.”
