I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with your ladyship. You may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer.
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 56. Lady Catherine is certainly not used to being spoken to like this, as Elizabeth stands up to the aristocratic bully in one of English literature’s truly great scenes. Elizabeth will answer only the questions she chooses to, she tells de Bourgh. To her ladyship it must appear to be the height of impertinence. To Elizabeth it is expressing her independence of spirit and equality as a person.