Coping Mechanisms

Jane’s default response to most problems is to get rid of them. When the greatest of her trials in life were dealing with rats and unwelcome attentions from men beneath her interest, this was a perfectly acceptable response to a troublesome situation. Beyond this, Jane would simply read or spend time with Cutler – bringing herself joy to overcome any sensations of melancholy or restlessness.

Since becoming the Lady de Bac, however, these habits of ruthlessly getting rid of pests and manipulating people out of her life have turned into powerful and dangerous weapons. Indeed even her decision to ignore a situation can in its own way be a manner of coping with it viciously – she knows well the weight of her voice in court and does not hesitate to make use of it as needed to curate her environment and the de Bac affairs.

Jane knows that when she withholds it or her company it places a dent in political relations that cast debilitating shadows upon those she spurns, forcing them to reconcile to her terms or find themselves in rather tight quarters as the vultures close in on their newly acquired point of weakness.

When she is overwhelmed, Jane still turns to reading – or to someone she trusts and adores. At first it was Sébastien, then it became Comte de Luc and of course, her bodyguard Diego de la Raina. Upon discovering her brother’s whereabouts it is doubtless she will turn to him, too, when she finds herself in need of someone other than herself to lean on.