“Leonora! Leonora! Oh there you are!” A child's voice interrupted my reverie. A pretty young girl perhaps ten years old was running over the grass towards me. I stood up, rather alarmed. I hadn't counted on this.

“Leonora, Mama says to come at once. The carriage will be here soon.” She took my hand and began to lead me over to the far side of the circle where a tall handsome man and his pretty wife were waiting.

'These must be my parents,' I thought. Addressing them was not a problem but what was the girl's name? It was fairly safe to assume that she was my younger sister.

“Emma my dear, thank goodness you found her,” the woman said with a sweet smile “We don't want to keep our carriage waiting.”

I felt concerned. Obviously I was expected to leave the stone circle with them, but what would happen? Would I be suddenly returned to the present day, or be stuck indefinitely around two hundred years in the past? I didn't really have much time to consider these options since Emma was still holding my hand and was now firmly leading me towards the edge of the circle. Well, in my heart of hearts I had wanted to be a woman all my life, so why not go along with it and see what happened? I held my breath as we passed through the stones and now I was outside the circle. Emma was still there and I was still Leonora.

Emma looked up at me with concern in her young face “Leonora, are you feeling alright?” she questioned “You are looking rather pale.”

“Yes Emma, I'm fine,” I replied. I sneaked a glance down at my sketch and it was all there, the stones, the surrounding hills and the people in their Regency finery, but could I take it back to my own time?

“May I see?” said Emma, and we paused while she gazed at my sketch for a long moment. “You're very good you know,” she said finally.

“Do you think I could become a professional artist?” I said to her, smiling.

“Oh goodness me, Papa would never allow that!” she said. “Besides, I'm sure he'll find a suitable husband for you soon.”

“A husband!” I certainly hadn't thought of that.

“Of course! And I will be your bridesmaid!” she giggled.

Mama and Papa now caught up with us and Mama said “Hurry up girls, your brother is coming this afternoon and bringing a visitor with him, so we must be ready.”

I didn't know if this was something I should have known about so said nothing as we headed on down the pathway towards the road. Waiting for us was a landau with two horses. It was becoming apparent that I must be part of a wealthy family who travelled around in such luxury. Seeing us, the coachman opened the door and offered his hand to the Mama, Emma and I to step up into the carriage. Then we set off down the hill towards Keswick. About a mile or so down the road we turned off into a driveway and came to a halt in front of a substantial house which I assumed had been rented for our holiday. Again the coachman assisted us in alighting and we made our way into the house.

“Come along girls, we must get changed,” said Mama. I thought that the dress I was already wearing was very fine, but it appeared it was not acceptable for an afternoon visitor. A maid was already in our bedroom, and Mama immediately started issuing orders.

“Marie, please help Leonora get dressed. John is bringing a young man to visit this afternoon and I want her to look her best.”

It was patently obvious that Mama was match-making and I was instantly reminded of the famous first sentence from Jane Austen's “Pride and Prejudice”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

The thought actually crossed my mind to wonder if she had already written those words since at present I had no idea which year I was in, apart from it being the early nineteenth century. Anyway, to the matter in hand which was making me look presentable. Marie helped me off with my dress and then in consultation with Mama, selected another one, if anything more diaphanous that the one I had worn that morning. This was not a problem for a modest young lady of course as I was already wearing a chemise, a short corset and two petticoats. I could see that there was an advantage to being a young lady as I didn't have to make any choices and risk making a mistake, it was all decided for me!

I was then made to sit down in front of a dressing table while Marie attended to my hair. This was the first time I had an opportunity to see myself in the mirror and I confess I was not displeased with what I saw. It was virtually impossible to see any sign of the Leonard I had been, instead I had soft feminine features which I hoped any man would find pleasing.

The whole process of getting ready took over an hour, and meanwhile my sister Emma had to change as well. Then we both went downstairs to the drawing room where we would receive our guests. Mama suggested I take my sketch pad down to occupy me. She had her embroidery, and was busy teaching its basics to Emma, so that she could make her first 'sampler'. In this way we would not appear to be waiting upon the arrival of our guests, even though of course we were! Papa also sat down with his newspaper, so the whole family was now assembled.

Shortly afterwards we heard horses' hooves on the gravel outside — my brother and the visitor had arrived. A few minutes later, a handsome young man bounded into the room greeted his father and gave Mama a kiss on the cheek, followed by one for me and Emma. In the meantime another young man stood diffidently at the doorway, and when I saw him I had to suppress a gasp. It was the same young man who had assisted me at the stone circle. He instantly recognised me and we smiled at each other, before I remembered I should behave modestly, and I lowered my eyes knowing that my cheeks were glowing pink.

Remembering his manners, John said “Mama, Papa, may I present my friend from Oxford, Mr Richard d'Anglais.” I'm sure I started at hearing his name but fortunately no-one seemed to notice. Now I knew why there seemed something familiar about him — he must surely be your ancestor, Jack.

Have you ever experience instant chemistry with a young woman? If you have, then surely you must be married by now, for you are a very handsome young man. The moment I saw Richard d'Anglais again I felt that chemistry and knew that our futures were bound together.

John then introduced him to me and I looked up as he bowed slightly and said “Miss Bolton”

I replied “I'm pleased to meet you again Mr d'Anglais.”

Mama instantly picked up on my slip of the tongue and said “Again? You have met before?”

“Mr d'Anglais kindly offered me his aid when I felt a little faint at the Druid circle,” I hurriedly explained, “But we weren't properly introduced.”

Mama beamed. Obviously the proprieties had been observed.

“Please take a seat Mr d'Anglais,” she said, indicating one well away from me. She then started on a gentle but thorough interrogation in which she elicited that Richard d'Anglais came from a good family which had rented a house at Braithwaite for the summer; and that he was studying law at Oxford. I had little doubt that Mr d'Anglais was passing his test as a prospective suitor, and this was confirmed when he conveyed an invitation from his parents for our family to attend a 'soiree' the following week at their rented house and Mama accepted with alacrity. I made no further contribution to the conversation since it appeared that was not required.

Not long afterward both young gentlemen stood up to take their leave, having promised to visit some other acquaintances currently holidaying nearby. Richard promised to convey the acceptance of the invitation to his parents and expressing his pleasure that we could attend. After they had departed, Mama smiled with satisfaction.

“Well, what a very pleasant and gentlemanly young man Mr d'Anglais is and a most eligible one too.” This was said with a glance in my direction and inevitably made me blush once more. “I think we can safely say that he found you not unattractive Leonora.”

I knew my blushes were deepening still further as she went on to offer a mild rebuke “My dear, you could have forewarned us that you had already met Mr d'Anglais.”

“But Mama, I had no idea of his identity at the time he assisted me at the Druid circle,” I protested, and it appeared my explanation was accepted.