I think Marianne's optimistic "confidence" in Willoughby's quick return is more like denial than confidence. It seems to me that Jane has perfectly pegged that pinball effect of emotion that runs quickly from "I can't believe he left me. He loves me. Of course he loves me. This is all a big misunderstanding. He'll be back in a week. How COULD he! I can't believe he left me. I WON'T believe he left me."

To a drama-addicted teenager who reads romance novels, this makes perfect sense. That is, after all, how the story is 'supposed' to go - boy meets girl, boy and girl encounter obstacle and separate for a time, there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, then the obstacle is overcome and all live happy ever after. In that world, it is almost a truism that the deeper and more profound the grief, the more exquisite the joy upon the reunion.