The question sat slightly beyond the usual boundaries of politeness, but the companion seemed sensible and easy-going. She smiled to show she was not offended. “It would be my pleasure.”
Mrs Annesley put down her cup, settled herself in her chair, and began her tale.
“I was a clergyman’s wife for many years. I married at 18, and never regretted it for a single moment, even when matters were difficult. My Harold died a few years ago, but with a bit of luck and timing, my second son was fully prepared to take over the living straightaway. He wished me to live with him, as any good son would, but he was also recently married.”
Elizabeth and Georgiana paid rapt attention.
“There is an old saying: ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth.’ A house should haveonemistress. Had my son taken a different living, I could have lived with him unobtrusively, always deferring to his wife with nary a peep. With 20 years as a leader of the parish, there was too much history, too many memories, too many who would seek my opinion, and too many chances to prevent my daughter-in-law from deciding her own path. Aside from that, I had beenusefulall my life, and I was not quite ready to do nothing. I deferred my retirement by taking employment. When I become feeble, or tire of my life of service, I may return, but not yet. I have too much I wish to do.”
“I see how that might put your daughter-in-law in a difficult position, but not an impossible one,” Elizabeth observed.
“Not impossible, but the early days of a marriage are difficult enough without adding more trouble. Two people marry, and they think they know all there is to know about each other; but they often find that they only know a tenth part of what they thought they knew, and half of that is wrong.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“You speak sense. I have a friend, Charlotte Lucas, who believes, ‘Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.’”
Georgiana stared. "Do you believe that, Mrs Annesley?"
“It has the ring of partial truth. What you know is not all youwillknow, but it does not necessarily mean you knownothing. For a simple example, suppose you met averyhandsome and agreeable man, well dressed, with proper manners. You would be inclined towards him, no?”
Both ladies nodded rather uncomfortably.
Mrs Annesley continued, “Now suppose you found that same man beating a dog, spurring his horse until it bled, backhanding a child for no reason, or racing a horse through a village. What then?”
“I should run from the cretin as fast as I could,” both young ladies said together.
“Suppose you found him drinking, gambling, or stealing from a merchant. These are extreme examples, but they establish the principle that youcan know somethingabout someone by how they act in unguarded moments.”
Elizabeth said boldly, “I assume you know we are both acquainted with just such a man.”
Mrs Annesley sighed. “You are young. Before you reach my age, you will become acquainted with many of them, I fear—they are common as rats. As to your Miss Lucas, I think she is optimistic. Still,subtlerindicators might guide you. Miss Bennet, has your opinion of Lady Catherine changed?”
“Yes.”
“For the better, or the worse?”
“Dramatically better.”
“Very well. I believe you are more analytical than the typical lady, if I have been informed correctly.”
“Yes.”
“Can you nameone thingthat changed your mind?”
Several small things had nudged her opinion of the lady, even before the last meeting in the yellow parlour and the reading of Anne’s diary, which had completely overset it.
At length, she said, “Kitchen stoves.”
“How so?”
“A tenant’s cottage with a beautiful new roof, visible a hundred yards away, can be interpreted several ways. It might show a landlord treating a tenant well, or merely wanting the estate tolookwell from the outside, or even a calculation that it is less expensive to stay ahead of leaks. A good kitchen stove that nobody but the goodwife or a maid will ever see tells quite a different story.”
“There you have it. Not everything is obvious, but not everything is unknowable. You must look beneath the surface if you want to approximate the truth. The more you know, the less you expose yourself to ignorance and folly.”
“That makes sense,” Elizabeth said.
“Miss Lucas depends on chance. In my experience, most men are about middling, neither excessively good nor bad. That is the nature of averages. If most men werebetterthan average, the average would be higher. Perhaps that might happen in our grandchildren’s or great-grandchildren’s time.”
