Catherine Draws a Line — Washington Square

That evening in the back parlour Mrs Penniman tells Catherine she has met Morris. The girl starts with pain, then a flash of anger almost new to her. She says she does not think it was right. No one but she should see him, because her father forbade it. Lavinia wraps herself in the evening paper and waits to be asked. After a long silence Catherine asks what he said. He is ready to marry in spite of everything. He looked handsome and haggard, brilliantly miserable. Lavinia places the meeting at a confectioner's in the Bowery, then asks why Catherine is so dry.

When pressed about fear, Catherine admits she is afraid of her father. Lavinia pushes her not to disappoint that gallant young heart, and says she was told to use her influence. Catherine grows stern. She does not think her aunt knows her. She forbids further secret appointments. It cannot be right to deceive, and she does not believe Morris himself likes meeting in secret.

Lavinia protests that gentlemen enjoy such things and that Catherine is jealous and thankless. She will never again take a step on her behalf. Then she offers a brief good-night and withdraws to her own apartment.