Catherine Draws a Line — Washington Square

When Mrs. Penniman tells Catherine she met Morris, the girl feels a flash of anger almost new to her and says she does not think it was right. Catherine insists that no one but she should see him because her father forbade it, and she meets her aunt's sarcasm with a simplicity that vexes Lavinia. After a long silence Catherine asks what Morris said, hears that he is ready to marry in spite of everything, and listens to Aunt Lavinia's portrait of him as brilliantly miserable.

When pressed about fear, Catherine admits she is afraid of her father, and Lavinia pushes her not to disappoint that gallant young heart. Catherine grows stern, says she does not think her aunt knows her, and forbids further secret appointments because it cannot be right to deceive. Lavinia protests that gentlemen enjoy such things and that Catherine is jealous and thankless, then withdraws in offended majesty.

The chapter marks a turn: Catherine remains obedient to her father in action, but she rejects her aunt's covert channel and claims moral authority over who may carry messages to Morris. For once the quiet daughter is not only passive; she names deception as wrong and tries to shut down the side door through which pressure enters.