Jane Fairfax’s comment about “human flesh” in Emma is perceived to be a comment on the slave trade by Mrs. Elton, but rather is a statement on “governess trade” (382). Save for that one instance, Austen makes little to no mentions of world affairs outside her county narratives, despite the onslaught of the independence movements in America and France, the Napoleonic Wars, and the beginnings of the British Empire. Though Austen never directly discusses the conquests of her nation, the prevalence of the teatime aesthetic—whether in the morning, as the center of a party, or as a reflective afterthought to dinner—provide a symbol that reflects the increasing strength of Georgian Britain that allowed the importation of tea. In Sense and Sensibility,