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**
The carriage had barely stopped when Leonora bounced out of it in a rush of cheerful enthusiasm. Indeed, her parents had hardly time to advance through the front door before she was in their arms.
“Oh it is so wonderful to be home,” she bubbled as she hugged them both. “How I have missed you.”
“Look at those freckles my child,” Alexander laughed. “Do they not encourage bonnet’s across the wilds of the continent?”
“Father, really?” she said playfully, stepping back to look at him. “I can hardly wear a bonnet while in the canopy of a tree collecting blossom samples. It would snare on every little branch. Mother always told me to dress appropriately, and so I did,” she added with a grin.
“And there is nothing wrong with a few freckles my love,” Charlotte admonished her husband, with a smile as she wrapped her arm around his. “I seem to remember you did not have an issue with my summer freckles. You sometimes still count them!”
“See Father,” Leo grinned. “But are we going to stand out here all day and discuss my complexion or do you think there is a chance of feeding me breakfast? I am famished, and my travel basket ran out after we passed through Hastings. I was eager to get home so I did not wish to stop.”
“We were not sure of your plans but the others should be down for breakfast momentarily,” Charlotte smile as they followed Leo inside.
*
“Oh a package was delivered for you yesterday,” Alexander remembered as Leo passed the marmalade across the table to him. “Shall I fetch it for you?”
“No… that is perfectly all right. I was expecting it sometime this week. Perhaps I can share it with all of you before my siblings venture off to school this morning?” she questioned.
“What is it?” Sarah asked, wondering if perhaps a new dress or ribbons but then realised that would hardly be something she would want to show Papa, let alone Sebastian or Will.
“You will see in all good time, dear sister,” Leo grinned.
“Well I do not wish to be late to class today,” Will added, “I have trigonometry to start my day and it can be most confounding to be admonished for being tardy.”
“William, I’m sure you could teach the class on the subject so is your obsession,” Leo sighed rolling her eyes. “Really, it is time you left this provincial school and sort a more challenging education in London.”
Charlotte and Alexander exchanged an amused look, which Leo dutifully noted.
“Not a word,” Leo uttered, refusing to look at either of them as she spread her toast evenly to the edges.
“I would…”
“Ah…” Leo interrupted, holding up her hand to her Father.
He continued to grin before picking up his knife again to smooth the spread on his own toast.
“If I was as rude to you as Leo, Papa, I would surely receive a reprimand,” Sarah offered, annoyed at what her older sister seemed capable of getting away with.
“I am beyond redemption,” Leo laughed, “whereas you my dear sweet sister have been spared. You have all the manners and grace that I do not and never did possess. You will charm all that you meet when you begin at the Royal Academy. However, I shall promise to be on my best behaviour when I attend your recitals.”
“I cannot imagine you will need to worry about attending recitals for quite some time,” Sarah laughed. “I just hope to be able to play piano well enough to not look foolish.”
“Sister, I doubt very much that you will look foolish. I cannot imagine they would accept fools when they only have a small number of places to study. I would have expected after the King honoured it with the royal charter it would have made it more difficult for a fool to invade,” Sebastian grinned, stealing the last piece of toast just as his brother went to reach for it.
“That was…”
“Time nor toast waits for no man, dear brother,” Sebastian chuckled.
“We can have more toast,” Charlotte offered to them.
“No time if we are to be available for Leo’s mystery unveiling. Surely Leo, whatever it is can be revealed at breakfast?” Sebastian offered, “we wouldn’t want to make William any later to class than he wishes.”
“Definity not. I do not wish your sticky marmalade paws all over my…”
“Your what?” William grinned.
“Just wait and see,” she smiled back.
“Well, since I missed out on the last of the toast,” William began, raising his cup and finishing off his morning cup of tea, “Mumma, may I be excused to go wash up my marmalade paws?”
“You may,” Charlotte smiled, noting the way the edge of Alexander's mouth would curl upward when they would bypass him as the head of the family and seek any sort of permission directly from their mother.
“Hmm… as well Mother?” said Sebastian already half standing as he gulped down the last of his tea before shoving the corner of the slice of toast in his mouth and heading for the door without waiting.
“Sebastian… your mother hasn’t…”
“Yes go,” Charlotte laughed.
“Thank you, Mother,” he chucked as he rounded his Father at the head of the table and patted him good-naturedly on the arm as he did. He pulled the toast away from his mouth as he stopped and chewed for a moment before speaking again. “Father, I’m going to take a look at the small field of lucerne south of the barley on my way into town.”
“I already have, it is growing nicely. I think the different strain of seed might be better than the one we usually sow,” Alexander offered.
“Yes, Papa, but growing nicely does not a scientific experiment make,” Sebastian replied cheekily. “Did you measure the growth? I need to keep accurate data if we are to maintain successful analysis of our crop choices.”
“See that you are not too late for school then,” Alexander replied, knowing very well there was little point in chastising his eldest son over what could be viewed as insolence at his tone. Really he was more than chuffed that Sebastian was so keen in all matters pertaining to the improvement of the estate.”
Sebastian shoved another bite of toast in his mouth as he backed away, talking and chewing ill-mannered as he went. “Pish… as Aunt Susan would say. For what need to I have for listening to Mr. Talbot ramble on after last week’s lesson mentioning how Napoleon died of poisoning on St. Helena, when Uncle Declan had told us years ago how he had known the Irish doctor who saw to him before his death and knew this was not so.”
“I assume in your usual way you expressed these thoughts to Mr. Talbot?” Charlotte said wearily, wondering why Alexander had not been summoned to the Head of school last week.
“No… there was no point. The man is an ignorant fool and I have no wish to engage with fools,” he said haughtily, heading for the door.
“Ah… our boy is growing up,” Leo muttered quietly with a grin at her Father.
“Do not drop crumbs on the hall runner,” Alexander called after him.
“Like the mess you made when you forgot to take your riding boots off before bounding up the stairs after mother last week,” he called back.
Leonora looked at her parents and watched the blush rise in both their cheeks and laughed. “Isn’t there an age when you two stop acting like newlyweds?”
“If there is, we have yet to reach it. Drawing room, ten minutes?” he replied to Leo as he stood, well used to her cheeky nature and taunts.
“Perfect,” she grinned with a shake of her head.
Alexander nodded and passed Charlotte’s chair on the way of the room, tactilely running his hand across her shoulder and placing a kiss above her ear.
“Xander… if you have just left toast crumbs and marmalade in my hair…” she complained as watched him quickly retreat from the room.
Leo smiled mischievously as she and her mother stood at the same time. “Feel free to bound up the stairs after him but I will expect you in the Drawing room in ten minutes still.”
“You, young lady, were much easier to navigate when you understood nothing,” Charlotte laughed.
“Yet saw a great deal and I understood much more than you realised,” Leo continued, as she linked arms with her Mother as they left the room, “I for one, knew that he was in love with you the day of the first picnic when I collected wildflowers. Although I did not know the name for it then, once I understood the concept of love I understood what I witnessed.”
“Augusta tells a similar story,” Charlotte smiled wistfully. “Now, we must hurry or your siblings will indeed be late for school.”
*
The family was gathered impatiently in the Drawing room waiting for Leo to arrive. Mrs. Wheatley came bustling into the room grumbling with Leo and her package following behind.
“Excuse me, Mr. Colbourne, however Miss Leonora all but demanded I be in attendance,” Mrs. Wheatley offered, pointedly looking to Leo.
“You are family too,” Leo chided, “I am only disappointed that Augusta lives in London and could not make the trip as well.”
“You asked Augusta to be here as well? What is the momentous occasion?” Alexander said worriedly as he looked to Charlotte for any hint of knowledge and found no trace in her expression.
“Here,” she replied. Dropping the package in her father’s lap and stepping back. “It is actually for you and Mother to open.”
“Are you sure Leo?” now even more hesitant at the contents.
“Yes,” she smiled widely. “Please, open it.”
“Yes please,” Sebastian now added, bouncing on the balls of his feet, his curiosity keener than the other, younger Colbourne siblings.
Alexander glanced at his wife beside him and she nodded for him to continue. He gradually unwrapped layers of brown paper, finally peeling the last sheet back leaving it looking like a fully opened bloom on his lap.
“It’s…”
“Yes,” she replied cheerfully.
Alexander lifted it and nudged the paper mass to fall on the floor at his feet to reveal to everyone a book he was holding.
“What is it?” Sarah asked. “What is the book about?”
Charlotte leaned into her husband’s shoulder as she read the title. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Leonora.
Alexander still stared at the half-inch thick volume he held around the edges by the palms of his hand, reverently in awe.
“Well?” Leo questioned to their silence.
Sebastian, not being able to endure the suspense any longer, rounded the settee and peered over his father's shoulder, and read the title aloud. “The Study of English Trees – by Leo Colbourne. Leo… you wrote this? This is your book? Published?”
“Yes,” she grinned widely. “It went to the printers weeks before I left for Belgium. I wanted to surprise you.”
“You seemed to have done an excellent job of that,” Mrs. Wheatley chuckled at the stunned silence from her parents.
“Father?”
Alexander finally looked up at her and passed the book off to Charlotte before rising and wrapping Leo into a tight embrace.
“My dear, dear girl… I am so proud of you,” he stammered, quite overwhelmed, squeezing her tight.
“There is a dedication,” she said as she kissed his cheek.
Charlotte opened the book and turned several blank pages to get to the page and a few tears escaped down her cheeks as she read it out.
“To Father and Mother… for teaching me to love the land where I grew and knowing the best hiding places.”
“Your own book, at your age - how magnificent!” Will said exuberantly. “Wait until I tell my friends about this!”
Alexander stepped back but still held her by the shoulders. “I just wish, for you Leonora…”
“I know Father, you do not need to say it. But I get called Leo far more than Leonora. Women in a man’s world… they never rise above the level of misrepresentation, well not yet anyway. I am still me… no matter how my name is written on the cover. It has several illustrations and two colour plates! My friend Isabella who did most of the illustrations is listed as I. Allen, but she is fast becoming known in her own right and may just make it easier for women as botanists, in general, to be heard and accepted.”
“This is a great achievement, Miss Leonora,” offered Mrs. Wheatley, patting her hand on Leo’s arm. “My heartiest congratulations. Thank you for allowing me to share this with your family. I must get back to the kitchen. I have pies in the oven for lunch. But I want to hear about all your adventures later.”
“Oh yes, I love your pies, Mrs. Wheatley. Perhaps you should be next to write a book of all your recipes. I would surely purchase a copy,” she laughed.
“School… we must get to school,” Will announced, stepping around his father to give Leo a hug. “I’m very proud to be your brother.”
“Baby brother,” she grinned back. “Oh all right then, baby brother. I must go.”
“It’s wonderful Leo… just wonderful,” Sarah offered, drawing her sister into a hug.
“Yes brilliant, Leo,” added Sebastian joining in the hug. “I want to know more about it. Perhaps I could stay home today. Come back after I have checked the crop… If there are things we can do here… changes on the Estate…”
“No, you go to school. You do not want tardiness marked on your record. We will talk this afternoon,” Leo stated, giving him a gentle shove toward the door. She turned and smiled at her mother still sitting on the settee with the book open on her lap. She stepped over and sat down beside her.
“Mother…?”
“Leo… I do not know what to say. I am so proud of all your work, but to include me in the dedication…”
Leo smiled and leaned her head against Charlotte’s shoulder. “I heard you that day in the rain. The day you and Father stood under the tree. You encouraged him to… well we know what you said.” She looked up at her Father standing there, and continued, “And you listened to her. You are both my greatest role models in life. The question should be how could I not dedicate my first volume to you both.”
Charlotte took her hand and tilted her head against Leo’s as Alexander sat down as well.
“Did you have difficulty finding a publisher to print the works?” Alexander asked thoughtfully.
“No, not as much as I thought I would. I am not foolish enough to think that as a woman, I could have walked into a publishing house and had my work accepted on my own merits alone. I have a friend; he was also at the Botanical under Mr. Morton when I first went there. Our paths have crossed several times over the years and he has been… most encouraging,” she smiled, a blush of pink rising to her cheeks did not go unnoticed.
“Friend?” Alexander questioned.
“Yes, friend. Reginald Porteous… Reggie acted as my go-between with the publisher. It is quite amusing. They are still blissfully unaware that I am a woman,” she chuckled.
“I assume Mr. Porteous has noticed,” Charlotte grinned.
“Mother really…”
“Mr. Porteous is more than welcome to visit here at Heyrick if you wish. Is not that correct?” Charlotte offered and looked pointedly at her husband.
“Err… well, yes… of course. I would like to meet this friend of yours, Leonora,” Alexander offered.
“Well, I would like to show him the trees on the estate here. I have written about them in my book. That is what gave me the idea. The way the trees here grow so well close to the water source and the different growth and patterns compared to those with only deeper water table access. It is all very fascinating. But I will not bring him here if he is to suffer the same torturous questioning that you submitted Walter to the first time he visited with Augusta. I would not be surprised if the poor man still suffers nightmares, all these years later!”
“I believe your father is a bit more settled these years later since we met Walter,” Charlotte offered, looking over the top of Leo’s head for a similar response from Alexander.
“Yes… I am sure by the time it is Sarah’s turn to introduce a suitor, I will just hand her over with her bags already packed,” he said with his own level of cheerful sarcasm.
“Who says that Reggie is a suitor?” questioned Leo, as she turned only her face towards her Father with a tinge of humour in her voice, her head still against her mother’s shoulder.
“Well, why shouldn’t he be? Friendship is a good basis and you…”
“If you dare say ‘are not getting any younger’, Father…”
“Absolutely not,” he defended. “I was about to say you obviously hold each other in high regard.”
“He is very proud of my work as well,” Leo replied with a nod, now willing to smile openly. “Perhaps I shall go write to him and ask if he would like to visit the place my research began all those years ago?”
“That would be a lovely idea,” smiled Charlotte as Leo stood. “We must find somewhere to display your book and we must get another copy for the Sanditon library.”
“At least two copies… if not more,” Alexander chimed in.
Leo laughed as she headed for the door. “You have not read it yet. How can you deem it worthy of the library?”
“Because I am still on the board of the library and my intelligent daughter has a book published so therefore it must go to the library. I am immensely proud of you Leo. I hope you are too,” he replied beaming.
She stopped in the doorway and turned. “Thank you, Father. Thank you, Mother. I meant it. Without your support… encouraging me that I could do whatever it was I wanted to do… just, thank you,” she grinned as she turned again and left the room.
“Our girl has written a book,” smiled Alexander.
“Yes, she has,” Charlotte agreed, moving across the cushion to settle in beside him, the book still on her lap.
“We did well,” he said, running his finger over the print of the dedication.
Charlotte kissed his cheek and laughed.
“One down… three to go!”