Jack stared moodily across the table at his best friend and his fiance.* The three of them were taking an early supper before Jack and Angus headed off for their shifts. Jack was on his second pint which was quite worrisome for Angus who had been dealing with his friend's dark mood for the past three days.

He and Mary disagreed on the best way to handle things. Mary wanted him to mind his own business and let Jack and his lady figure it out on their own. She didn't buy into Fred's notion that Miss Banks was amusing herself at Jack's expense. Mary worked in the accounting department at Fidelity Fiduciary where many of the employees remembered Mr. Banks with great fondness and the family was well respected. Still less did she agree with Angus's belief that you shouldn't marry outside your class. They'd had some pretty sharp words about it.

"Are you telling me I'm low class and that's why you want to marry me?" she had snapped.

"No! You know better than that!" He had sputtered. "I'm just saying they're too diff'rent. She grew up in a big house with a cook and a maid and a Father that went off to work in a suit. Jack doesn't even own a suit. What does she know about livin' like the likes of us. Accordin' to Jack she can't even cook. He worries all the time cause she's eatin' out of cans. If you're goin' to be married you got to be able to rub along together and be expectin' the same things out of life."

"And now look at him," thought Angus. Things had fallen out just like he and Fred had been worried about—Jane Banks and her family were nothing but trouble.

"Maybe it's for the best," said Angus.

"Shut up and stay out of it," said Mary. "This is between Jack and Miss Banks. And you," she said turning to Jack. "You think you're the first person that ever found out someone they loved had stupid relatives? You can't hold that against her."

"Michael Banks owes me an apology," said Jack stubbornly. "And I don't know what's going on with Jane. She's been avoiding me for days. Maybe this is the reason," he said bitterly, "She doesn't want to be seen with a lamplighter."

Mary shut her eyes and counted to ten. "Or maybe she's just trying to avoid your mates because of the way they've been treating her," she said.

"Who's interfering now!" said Angus.

"All right! I'm interfering, but at least I want Jack to be happy!"

"So do we!" said Angus.

"Would someone tell me what is going on," said Jack.

XXXXXXX

"I told Fred and Angus they owe you an apology," said Jack.

He had gone at once to see Jane when he finished his rounds. It was still early in the evening but Jane was tired. She was already in her slippers and dressed for bed. Since this involved two layers of flannel consisting of a high necked gown and a robe that went almost to the floor creating an effect she felt was more grandmotherly than seductive, she hadn't felt too self conscious letting Jack in to her flat.

"Fred had no business saying what he did and Angus...I'm sorry you had to put up with it. You should have told me."

"I didn't want to make trouble. They've been your friends since you were children. Closer than brothers you said."

"They are," said Jack, "but as someone pointed out to me tonight you can't blame a person for having stupid relatives."

"I'm sorry about Michael. I don't know what got into him."

"Michael and I can sort it out later. I have to go back to the house and take care of the piano and then there's Annabel's lessons. I don't want her to be upset."

"No," said Jane sitting down on the sofa. "I don't want her upset either."

Jack sat down beside her and took her hand. The flannel nightgown and robe were having a strange effect on him. He thought of Jane as confident and sure of herself. But now she seemed vulnerable. He had taken her proposal as proof of her self assurance and had answered in kind, not understanding that she had taken a tremendous emotional risk. He realized now that he needed to explain things to her, to make sure she understood where he was coming from.

"Jane we need to talk. I didn't explain myself earlier. When I was in the Sates I was with someone. Someone I loved and thought I was going to marry. But I had the cart before the horse as they say. She was incredibly ambitious. She got a chance at a job and she was gone. I don't blame her. Looking back I think she cared, just not the way I did. It was mostly me being old fashioned and chivalrous. I don't want to do that again. It's too difficult if we don't want the same things."

"But what if I was honest with you from the start?" asked Jane. "What if I just want to be with you? No commitments. You don't have to be careful or chivalrous with me. I had a fiance too and he... well it wasn't as if he was kind."

"What do you mean, he wasn't kind?" asked Jack his eyes narrowing.

"I don't want to talk about him. He's not important." said Jane. "All I'm saying is that I'm not a...a princess in a tower. I've done this before. I'm not interested in being married and if you want to be with me that way than you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings."

"You know what," said Jack slowly. "I'm beginning to think I should. And not just your feelings, my feelings too. Jane I want to be with you in every way. To take you to lunch, escort you home from a rally, go to the proms or to a bookstore. But right now it seems as if you're ashamed to be with me when we're out and about?"

"Oh Jack! No! That's not what I meant at all." Jane's distress was real. "I'd be proud to go anywhere with you. It's just that I've never made plans to...to share my life with anyone. I'm not sure I can."

"Aren't you rushing things a bit?" asked Jack smiling. "All I'm talking about is lunch or a trip to a bookstore, not a mortgage and ten children."

Jane could feel herself blushing. Of course she had assumed too much, and made things so much more difficult by wanting to be with him in an intimate way. She should pull herself together and say the proper things and send him away. Except that Jack's arms were around her and her head was on his shoulder and it felt so good, as if she had come home.

"We can start slowly," Jack was saying. "I figure it's just a matter of you getting used to me. You might find you like having me around."

Oh yes, she could get used to him, and she liked having him around. But she had been down this road before, giving up pieces of herself to please someone else until it had been almost too late. And what about Jack? Didn't he deserve someone younger and less set in her ways. Someone who could give him those ten children he joked about. It was all such a muddle.

"Some people think entirely too much, of that I'm sure." She could hear Mary Poppins voice as clearly as if she was in the room.

Maybe Evelyn was right. It was time to stop thinking and let her mind catch up to her heart.

*Angus' s fiance is Mary Smith. She was mentioned once before in "The Banks Family and Little Women." I wish Mary had chosen a different name but she's one of those characters that inserts herself and tells you who she is from the start.