CHAPTER THREE
That evening, around six o'clock, there was a knock on the door of the Porter's residence. Jane opened the door swiftly, greeting the person waiting on the other side. It was Larkin, there as he had said in his note. Jane smiled, hoping that she could mask the dread rising in her stomach. He stood in front her on the front porch, an excited expression plastered across his face. "Hello, Janey," he said, flashing a suave smile at her. He was just the same as he had been when they had left for Africa – honey colored blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that had captured that heart of every girl in Jane's year of university…with the exception of perhaps Jane herself.
He was nice, she told herself. He was training to be a doctor, and he would be quiet well off, she reminded herself. This was a good relationship. She would be happy. If only she fully believed it. Stepping back to allow him entry into the house, they exchanged casual pleasantries and a brief hug. "So, you said you were here to surprise me," Jane said, drawing in a deep breath, bracing herself for what she thought was going to come. "You know how I hate surprises, Larkin."
"Ah, yes," he said, "I know that very well, Janey. But, this is something I couldn't spoil." Jane gave a small smile, hoping it didn't look too much like a grimace. "Come, let's sit in the living room."
Jane followed Larkin into the living room, both of them taking a seat in one of the several chairs dotted throughout the room. The room was large, and yet cozy - a large mantle positioned over the fireplace, the mantle lined with photographs and drawings, as well as several of the Professor's certificates and awards from his many academic ventures. On a small, round table sat a music box - one that Jane's mother had bought when Jane was a very young girl. Jane had always loved this music box, painted with delicate floral designs on the dark wood of the body of the box. It played a soft, melodic tune, which kept the awkward silence between the two at bay. After some time, Jane spoke. "How have you been? We haven't spoken since daddy and I left for Africa some time ago."
"Fine, all things considered, Janey. Just attending to some important business in the time that you were gone."
"What kind of business?" Jane asked.
"You'll see, in due time," Larkin said, giving her a playful smirk - one which put Jane more on edge. She wished he would just tell her what this surprise was already. It was making her nervous, sitting there, just waiting - but not knowing what she was waiting for, exactly. "But, I'll spare you any more worry - I'm ready to give you your surprise now." He pulled a small package from the breast pocket of his shirt and handed it to Jane. "I asked your father for permission to give this to you some time ago - before you both went to Africa," he began. Jane's heart skipped a beat - no, not this, no, no. This was just what she had hoped it wouldn't be, she just knew it. Lifting the wrapping back from the package in her hands, she revealed a small dark box. Larkin knelt in front of her with one knee on the floor, and opened the box, the contents facing her. Just what she hoped wouldn't be there. In this box, in a soft bed of red cloth, sat an engagement ring — a thin gold band with a sizable diamond sitting atop it. "Jane, dearest Jane Porter, would you do me the greatest pleasure, and be my wife?" he asked, brushing a few strands of her auburn hair behind her ear.
A blush rose in her cheeks and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. She forced a broad smile, a convincing one. She nodded enthusiastically - a tear trickling from the corner of her eye. This tear was mistaken by the young man in front of her ad one of joy when in fact it was a tear that grew its roots in turmoil. Every instinct in Jane's body wanted to say no. Larkin was a smart young man, from a wealthy family, with a large house and a promising career in medicine in one of London's most esteemed hospitals. He came from a family that owned a house in an upper echelons type area of London, with a second home in Monaco, and a large boat that they used to make trips to mainland Europe. She should say yes - this was likely the best opportunity she would have in life for marriage. Any other young woman in this position would have said yes, and so should she.
Despite all of this - all of the grandeur that could befall her if she were to become the wife of Larkin Edwards, she could not stop her mind from wandering to someone else. She stifled this quickly, instead turning her attention back to her now fiancé, who was now sliding the ring onto her finger. For all Jane cared, he may have just put her in handcuffs. They kissed for a moment, but Jane wanted to pull away as soon as she could. It felt wrong, her lips on his, but she didn't want to admit why. "I'm ever so happy," Jane said quietly, "It's a lovely ring, my love." She nearly choked on the last two words. She was trapped now. She could not retract, though she wanted to.
"I'll have the most beautiful wife in all of London, soon enough," Larkin said, holding Jane's hands in his tightly. "Now, Miss Porter, would you do me the honor of joining me at my house for dinner tonight? We have a wedding to discuss."
Jane nodded again, rising from her chair. "Just let me fetch a jacket, there's a bit of a chill in the air." As she retrieved her coat from the closet in the foyer, she let out a quiet sigh. She glanced out the window, looking at the setting sun and the clouds, stained milky shades of pink and peach. How beautiful it was out there. The leaves on the trees were getting greener by the day, and flowers were beginning to bloom on the shrubbery that lined the roads. Without her noticing, her mind wandered again. She thought of Africa, and the trees there that grew so tall they must've poked out on the other side of the clouds. She thought of the night that she had sat in the branches of one of those trees and watched as the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving behind a brilliantly colorful sky and stars that began to emerge. She had not been alone, then. She had been with Tarzan. They had sat in the tallest branches of that tree for what felt like hours - mostly silent, from time to time exchanging a few words. It was not an uncomfortable silence, though. They had kissed that night - many times in fact. Jane's mind had swung up to the heavens and back with this. Kissing Larkin was not, and had never been, like that night in the jungle.
Realizing what she had been thinking of - Jane ousted these thoughts from her head. She mustn't think of the jungle anymore - she mustn't think of Tarzan anymore. She had a fiancé — she had a boyfriend when she was in Africa, and she knew that she shouldn't have been as close to Tarzan as she was. She mustn't be thinking of things like this. She would be a married woman soon, and she couldn't be thinking of any other man aside from her husband in such a fashion. Jane pulled on her coat, silently vowing that she would no longer think of Africa or of who she had met there. It was a scientific, academic journey - and that was how she was to reflect on it; purely academically.