Jane had left the jungle for a life of powdered, corseted ladies and pastel tea rooms. She thought it was what she wanted, she thought it was what she needed. But the jungle called to her. Whilst she sat in the tea rooms, she thought of collecting the day's water from the lake with the elephants. Whilst she dressed for the day, her mind wandered to the liberation she felt from her jungle attire, or lack thereof and when she looked at the men of England, she couldn't help feeling they were not enough, that they fell short of one very special wild man…

Archimedes found his daughter in the drawing room, wistfully staring out of the window.
"Jane, are you quite alright, my dear?" He asked, approaching her slowly. She nodded, not taking her eyes from the window.
"Oh yes Daddy, I am quite content." She sighed, her breath ragged from the constraints of her corset.

Jane had not been the same since leaving the jungle. Archimedes couldn't think what could have caused this depression. It was he who wanted to stay in the jungle, not she! He approached her, knowing that she was lying to him. On the table beside her laid her drawings from the jungle, etchings of monkeys and birds and plants, anything of interest. Archimedes rustled through them, admiring their splendour and wondered why they were there.
"You miss it, don't you, Jane?" He asked her in a sorrowful tone. She had been sure at the time that returning to England and leading a normal life was what would make her happy.

But she was not happy and that was because she was not normal. Jane was destined for so much more than the normal life of an English lady, she was every bit as wild as the jungle they had left and she could not be constrained by society.
"Miss what, Daddy?" She asked him absentmindedly.
"The jungle of course!" He cried out, he heard Jane sigh and knew that his thoughts were correct. Jane missed the jungle and everything that occupied it.
"I don't miss it exactly. I just wonder what they are all doing. Is Kala playing with the newborns? Is Tantor drinking from the river with his family? Is Terk swinging from trees? Is-Is" She stopped, unable to say his name. Archimedes knew Tarzan was one of the reasons Jane wanted to stay in the jungle and he knew that Jane had broken his heart by leaving. He placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"I am sure he is doing well." He then turned his daughter to face him.
"Jane, I thought that this was what you wanted? You wanted to live a normal English life? But you are not happy. You are not happy because you miss the wildlife of the jungle. You miss Tantor and Kala and Terk and you miss Tarzan, Jane! Tell me if I am not correct." He implored his daughter. He could read Jane like an open book and it pained him to see the tears spill over her cheeks.
"Alright Father, I miss it! I miss not having to wear this awful corset! I miss not waking with the sun! I miss not making my own food and collecting my own water! I miss my friends and I miss blasted Tarzan, are you satisfied?!" She pushed past him, her head in her hands, weeping. Admitting that she had made a mistake pained Jane more than anything. She had made a mistake in leaving the jungle and she now had to live with it.

Jane had taken leave from her Father for the rest of the day. She had stripped off her uncomfortable clothing and rested the entire day. Her dreams were shrouded in the shade that only came from canopies of trees and out cried the call of one man, the man that plagued Jane's dreams every night since she had stepped foot on english soil.
"I shall see you next Thursday, Captain. Good day." Jane heard from her room. Her Father ran up the stairs of their London town house and knocked on her door.
"Jane, we are leaving next week. We are going back to the jungle and we are staying this time!" Archimedes called out in glee. Jane was unsure how to feel. She was secretly excited to return to the life that she so longed for and she was happy that her Father had been so proactive and was anticipating their return with such vigour. However, Jane knew that her old friends would not welcome them with open arms. Last time they had seen Jane and her Father, they were boarding a ship back to England, leaving them forever. Jane wondered if they would hate her, or whether time had perhaps soothed the wounds that she had inflicted.

Archimedes' evening involved him bustling about, beginning to pack all of the cases of clothes and necessities and scientific equipment. He was grateful to be in such a situation to afford two one way tickets to the Atlantic coast of Africa. His findings had earned him enough to live rather comfortably with his only child. He had just enough money saved and the promise of the deed of the house was enough to secure he and Jane first class tickets from the Captain. Archimedes was sure that it was fate that there was a ship leaving in only a week. And with the new ship it would only take them ten days to get to Africa. Archimedes had to admit to himself that he was excited to return to his home and have his Jane back.
"You're doing what?" Lady Colinsworth asked over afternoon tea.
"Father and I are returning to Africa, to continue our work." Jane stated proudly. She realised that she was happy now with her Father's decision and she was actually excited to leave the prim and proper English society to live a full and exciting life in the jungle.
"But what about a husband? A family? Every woman's destiny?" Her large bosom swelled with a kind of rage as she questioned Jane.
"I daresay there are more important things than a "woman's' destiny" to strive for." She retorted.
"We are in different minds, Miss Porter. Good bye and good day. Come along Ann." Mrs Collinsworth pulled her niece along, out of the tea room and away from Jane. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She was seen as such a deviant, so immoral by those around her. She had not hurt anybody, she had only decided that another way of life suited her far better. However, in this society, she might as well have stripped naked and danced about the tearoom, squawking like a bird.

Archimedes was delighted to see his daughter become cheerful with the prospect of returning to Africa looming nearer.
"I hear there is a local English colony. So if you are craving some company you can go there rather than carting me back to England." He jested, smiling up at her from under his bushy moustache.
"You jest Daddy, but it might be handy to know of other Englishman in case we run out of anything, such as TEA." She emphasised, causing her Father to choke on his brew.
"Oh, we can't have that. No, certainly not. Perhaps it will be good to make an acquaintance with these men, you are a clever girl, Jane." Jane blushed and brushed off the compliment.

They both stood, looking up at the house to which they would never return.
"Will you miss it, Daddy?" Jane asked, looking up at the frilly curtains and pastel window frames.
"Not for a moment." He replied, his tone sure and final. Jane smiled down at him, glad that he would not reminisce on their town house. She supposed, as she walked under her parasol, to the boat, that she might miss certain aspects of English life, like freshly made tea cakes with butter icing and sweet smelling perfume that made her head spin. However, she knew that the disadvantages of England far outweighed the advantages and with this knowledge she stepped onto the boat, clear minded and filled with excitement for what might lie ahead.