Jane remaining standing, staring at the door through which Mr. Bingley had left, seeing not it, but her future departing. She did not cry; she was too empty for that; she trembled; she started to sway.

Mrs. Gardiner, fearing her niece was about to swoon, swept Jane up in her arms. When the tremors had ceased Mrs. Gardiner steered Jane to a chair and poured her a cup of tea. The tea had been ordered when Jane had returned with the children, Mrs. Gardiner thinking that Jane and her young man would be some time, but that time together had passed so quickly that the tea was still hot. Jane's tirade had shocked and astonished Mrs. Gardiner. To think that Jane was capable of such a thing, certainly Elizabeth and Lydia were, but not Jane. Not Jane, who only saw the good in everyone; everyone apparently except Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Gardiner had questions.

When it was apparent Jane had regained her composure Mrs. Gardiner started in. "When we went to Longbourn at Christmas Mr. Bingley had already left Hertfordshire. All I learned of him from others was what I could glean from your mother's wailings and Lizzy's resentments – that he had five thousand pounds and he left you due to the machinations of his odious sisters and friend. All I heard of him from you was that he was the most amiable man of your acquaintance, and you had nothing to reproach him with. Yet today you did nothing but reproach him." Here Mrs. Gardiner gave Jane that 'Well?' look that mothers, and other inquisitors, through the ages had employed on miscreants to induce full and complete confessions.

Jane did not bite. Mrs. Gardiners sighed to herself. She was going to have to pry the answers to her questions out of her niece. She started with the accusation thrown at Mr. Bingley which had bothered her the most. "You said Mr. Bingley was trying to seduce you. What liberties did he take?" When Jane did not answer, instead staring into her teacup, Mrs. Gardiner said, perhaps more sharply than need be, "Jane! Answer me!"

Jane started and looked at her aunt. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. He didn't take any liberties."

"Did he kiss you? Or try to kiss you?"

"No, never. He never even kissed my hands."

"Did he touch you?"

"Just when we were dancing, as part of the dance; he handed me into a carriage, twice; he held my hand as he bowed over it; I held his arm while we were walking; he …" Jane paused, seemingly in contemplation of all those innocent touches the two had shared. Mrs. Gardiner had heard enough of that.

"So why did you call him a seducer?"

"I'm so angry at him. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to shake him, to box his ears, to slap him, but I can't do that so I called him a …" Jane's voice trailed off but Mrs. Gardiner thought she heard Jane say "I'm so sorry."

"Is that why you compared him unfavourably to your cousin, Mr. Collins? Having met your cousin I must say that you saying that you would rather marry Mr. Collins than Mr. Bingley was a low blow indeed." Mrs. Gardiner tilted her head. "You wouldn't have …"

Jane nodded her head and then quickly shook it. "Yes, I was trying to make him feel bad; no, I wouldn't have married Mr. Collins no matter what, he truly is a fool. I'm not as desperate as Charlotte – not yet."

Sensing that her niece's mood was starting to lighten Mrs. Gardiner said "Tell me, were Mr. Bingley's compliments as studied, extravagant and insincere as those of Mr. Collins?"

Jane shook her head. "No. He hardly complimented me at all. He only complimented my …" Here Jane waved her hand in front of her chest and face, encompassing her beauty "once. When he first saw me at his ball. The best one was when he complimented me on a scent I had made in the still room. He said my nose was magnificent" Jane smiled at that memory.

"When you were with him what did you talk about? Books, questions of philosophy?"

Jane laughed. "No, we weren't Lizzy and Mr. Darcy. We talked about many different things. When he was growing up his family lived in Scarborough near to his father's mills and they didn't have a garden so I told him about gardens and he told me about mills."

"And you agreed about everything."

"Not at all. He would like to have a dog but Miss Bingley says she is allergic; and I'd like to have a cat but Mama says she is allergic."

"And how did you resolve that?"

Jane laughed. "We'd get a dog and cat that got along and never invite Miss Bingley or Mama to visit."

"We'd? So, you did discuss marriage."

Jane sighed. "We never said the word. We talked about a lot of things we'd do together but getting married was not one of them."

"Would you like to be married to him?"

It took several beats for Jane to answer but finally she said "But Miss Bingley said he and Miss Darcy are intended for each other."

Mrs. Gardiner held up her hand. "Having met that supercilious woman, I can tell you that I would not believe her if she told me it was raining unless the flood waters were reaching my waist and Noah's Ark went floating by. I ask again – would you like to marry him?"

"Yes, but does he want to marry me?"

Mrs. Gardiner could see that Jane was starting to tear up but she was not about to let up now. "I don't know – he came here to see you but you didn't really give him a chance to say, did you?"

That broke the flood gates open. Jane sobbed "I didn't, did I. I sent him away. I called him such names. I told him I never wanted to see him again."

Mrs. Gardiner handed Jane a handkerchief but otherwise let her niece cry herself out. Jane had been suffering a disease of the heart since Mr. Bingley had left her. Her rant had acted like casting up her accounts; her crying acted like the breaking of a fever. Hopefully, with Mr. Bingley's return, Jane would now start to recuperate.

When Jane had regained her composure, as best she could, she asked her aunt "What do I do now?"

"What do you want to do?" Mrs. Gardiner batted Jane's question back at her.

"I want – I want to hear what Mr. Bingley came to say to me today – but, but I'll never see him again."

To forestall another bout of tears Mrs. Gardiner hurriedly said "You will see him again."

"How so?"

"His lease to Netherfield runs to Michaelmas does it not?"

"But Miss Bingley said he would not return."

Mrs. Gardiner sniffed. "Do. Not. Believe. Anything. That. Woman. Says." She thought that if she said the words slowly enough Jane might finally acknowledge that truth. "There is still almost six months to Michaelmas, Mr. Bingley is bound to return to Netherfield at some point, if only to collect the rent due from his tenants. When he does, he will be out in society, and you will see him then."

"But I called him such names. I called him a puppy. He'll cut me."

That reference to 'puppy' gave Mrs. Gardiner the opening she had been looking for. "From what Lizzy told me about him Mr. Bingley probably is a puppy of a sort. But that may be to your advantage." Mrs. Gardiner could see Jane was about to interrupt so she held up her hand. "Let me finish. If you kick a puppy, it will shy away from you. You must gain its trust. You crouch down, you hold a treat out to it, you make kissing noises to it, when it comes to you, you don't try to grab it, instead you rub its ears. And pretty soon you're holding it in your lap."

The image of herself crouching down and holding a treat out to Mr. Bingley, and making kissing noises to him – kissing noises! – having him eat out of her hand, rubbing his ears, sitting in his lap, making kissing noises to him – kissing him – was too much for Jane. She gave a nervous little laugh and blushed. "I can't – I can't."

"You can and will. When you see him, you will smile at him, not your usual smile; no, you will give him your most radiant smile. You will then hold out your hand to him which will force him to take it and bow. When he does you will squeeze his hand and hold on to it for a moment longer than usual. When he straightens back up, you will give that special smile again, and then whisper, so only he can hear, 'we must talk'. When do you get him alone to talk, be open with him about your feelings – don't make him guess – and it will all work out. "

"I can't do anything improper."

"There's nothing improper about that. Improper would be what Lydia would do in the same circumstance – she'd get rid of her fichu and give him so deep a curtsey that he would able to see all the way from her collarbone to her knees. And he'd be thinking about something other than reconciliation."

"Aunt! Lydia would never …"

Mrs. Gardiner shook her head. "Just wait – your father gives her much too much latitude. But enough of her; are you clear about how you and your young man can move forward?"

"But there are still things about him that I don't …"

"Like? Just remember two things about two puppies – they can be trained, and they do grow up."

Jane tilted her head and smiled at her aunt. "Did you train uncle?"

Mrs. Gardiner just smiled back at her niece.