As was her custom, Elizabeth woke up at dawn the next day. She looked out the window and found out that a strong storm still persisted. They would have to stay several hours more in Netherfield.

She dressed in the same gown as the day before and decided to look for a book while she waited an hour or two for Jane to wake up. To her surprise, she found Mr. Darcy sitting comfortably in the library.

Elizabeth hesitated whether or not to stay in the library, but Mr. Darcy with a slight smile greeted her.

"Good morning, Miss Bennet, did you sleep well?"

Lizzy smiled slightly, "good morning, Mr. Darcy. Yes, thank you. I am used to getting up every day before the sun rises." Curiously, she pointed to the book he was reading and asked, "What are you reading?"

Darcy showed her the title and replied, "The Republic or the State."

"Plato," Lizzy smiled, "In my opinion, that is his best work."

"Have you read Plato?" asked Darcy in astonishment, for he knew very few ladies who had read Plato.

Lizzy agreed, "Yes; I read several of his books, in fact, I like to read Greek philosophy, and especially Plato." She smiled, "Particularly in the Republic, I find it fascinating that two thousand years ago Plato had such advanced ideas about education, justice, property, and social organization."

Darcy thought for a few moments and with a smile, he replied, "It's true, several of his ideas are very interesting, some of them have even been implemented in England and some of them are utopian."

Elizabeth nodded slightly, "Unfortunately Plato's beliefs about the intellectual equality of women and men, and women should receive the same education as men, have not yet been implemented."

Darcy smiled, "However Socrates and other philosophers did not agree with Plato's views on that particular issue as he considered women inferior."

Lizzy smiled, "That's why I admire Plato and not Socrates, Mr. Darcy."

Darcy smiled, "Good point, Miss Bennet…"

They continued to talk about the great philosophers of antiquity, Greek and Roman mythology, until half an hour later Georgiana and later Jane joined them in the library.

Unlike Georgiana and Lizzy, Jane was not a great reader and her knowledge of Greek mythology and philosophy were very limited, but she listened carefully to what they were talking about and even intervened in the conversation.

Unfortunately, Jane was very influenced by her mother and genuinely thought that it was not necessary to educate women too much since her role was limited to taking care of the house and the children and pleasing her husband. Also, her mother claimed that gentlemen did not like women to be too clever and contradict them.

Elizabeth, knowing that Jane had feelings for Mr. Darcy, asked Georgiana several questions and conversed almost exclusively with her.

Jane took the opportunity to ask Darcy a few additional questions about the book he was reading, and he answered politely. Shortly thereafter the budding conversation between Jane and Darcy was interrupted as they were joined by Caroline and Charles Bingley in the library.

With each passing day, Jane admired Mr. Darcy more; but unfortunately, Darcy's incipient interest in her, mainly because of her resemblance to Diana Spencer, was fading completely.

PPP

The rain did not abate for the rest of the morning, and it was not until late afternoon that Darcy, Bingley, and two servants could cut down the tree that blocked the Netherfield's main road.

Darcy took a brief tour around Netherfield, but a few minutes later it started to rain again. There were several trees down and it was unwise for Misses Bennet to return to Longbourn that day.