While waiting for the court cases to develop, I continued to work on my book telling the history of the Bolton Family, including but playing down the more salacious affairs and soon had it ready for publication. Although the original intention agreed with Charles and Lizzie was that it would be primarily be as a family record and for issue to friends, colleagues and visitors to the Manor, Charles decided after reading it through and approving what I had written that it deserved a wider audience and should be commercially available. He called up a few old friends and contacts in the book trade and soon it was proof-read, edited, printed and published, widely stocked and sold, particularly in bookstores in the county, where people knew about the Manor and the Bolton family. It was never going to be on the best seller lists, but had a steady stream of sales and generated a small but steady income, Charles’ share of the proceeds paying for what it had cost him to employ me to write it.

In one of my meetings with Charles, I told him that I was intrigued with the involvement of the 1st Baron and the 1st Earl at Trafalgar and Waterloo, and would like to write further books based on their heroics. However rather than a dry relating of history, I had ideas for developing the stories into fiction novels interweaving some personal, heroic adventure, and romantic elements on top of their military careers, appealing to a much wider readership.

“I’ve no problem with that, you can write it anyway without my permission as long as it is clearly a work of fiction. I really liked the style of your writing of the family history, you even made a lot of the more mundane elements of our family life sound interesting, and I look forward to a bit of an adventure romp in the more exciting periods of the family history. If you want to work from here so that you have easy access to the records, I will be glad of your company.”

As promised, The Post serialised extracts from the book drip-feeding it over several editions, especially the more adventurous and salacious stories that I had dug up. Mike decided to make a big feature of the local story of Great-Uncle Charles’ activities as a cross-dressing prostitute and the orgies held at the Manor which would appeal to the more lurid interests of many of our readers. I returned to work at The Post, although on a freelance basis which meant that they used me when they needed me and I was able to fit my time there along with my other interests at TV North and Bolton Manor.

Obviously when the book came out, and even more so after The Post’s feature on it, I was in demand as the author to appear on chat shows and soon became a bit of a local TV celebrity, which tied in with my burgeoning career at North TV.

I had now been able to spend more time at North TV, starting off with the story Fizz had researched about physical and sexual abuse at a Church-run children’s home. This was a harrowing tale that tugged at the heartstrings with children as young as 6 or 7 being subject to regular sexual, physical and verbal abuse, being treated by the so-called care staff worse than the animals in the local RSPCA Dog and Cat shelter. The trusting and inexperienced local council social services officers who theoretically had a duty of care oversight responsibility had the wool pulled over their eyes by the cynical manipulative staff and the church authorities who owned and managed the place. When I read the script Fizz and her team had prepared with all the details, I was moved to tears and at the end of the filming for the broadcast it was easy to weep for the cameras.

“Cut” shouted Mike, “Lets get this cleaned up and ready to go out. You were brilliant Jane you had real emotion in your voice, mixtures of dismay, anger, and disgust, for a change with presenters you seemed genuinely affected by the report. We need to sit down and discuss future issues, hopefully not quite as heart-string pulling as that, and sort something out for you.”

“Thank you Mike, I would like to say that I enjoyed doing that, but I can’t, even though I had been through the script several times at rehearsals, I felt as though I was hearing it for the first time and the longer the recording went on the more it got to me. Hopefully any future episodes will be easier for me to deal with. Anyway, to move onto something a bit more cheerful, how are you getting on with Jenny? I’ve not really had the chance to have a good talk to her, between coming here, working at The Post, staying over at Bolton Manor, and her going out with you.”

Rather than the brash confident TV director as he usually presented himself, Mike became quiet and shy. “She’s a great girl, I really like her a lot, but it is still early days yet, let’s wait and see how it goes on. Thanks for setting us up to meet each other Jane, and don’t try and pretend that it was just an innocent coincidence that we ended up together.”

I gave him a big smile, “I haven’t heard any complaints about it from either Jen or you, but I guess I shouldn’t be looking for a new hat yet then.”

I had agreed with North TV that the details of any reports I fronted or prepared for them would be available to The Post and the following morning a reworked version of the programme script was a front-page feature in the Post, with my byeline but with credits to the investigative team at North TV, specifically Fiona Marshall (Fizz). Rather than the council deciding to close down the home and disrupt the lives of the unfortunate children any more, all the staff were moved to other institutions where they could be individually monitored and their conduct assessed prior to decisions about their future, and a new team drafted in, along with a resident supervisor from Social Services. The children would always bear the scars of their experiences there, but hopefully they would soon have some happy memories too to help the healing process.

The report was well received by the viewing public who were desperate for more information on the staff involved and between us Fizz and I compiled a follow-up which was broadcast a week later. The station bosses were delighted at the response and the viewing figures leading to a contract for me to present a regular series’s and soon I was spending as much time at the TV station as I was at The Post.

A few weeks later.,I had a follow-up appointment with Ms.Shipley the endocrinologist to check on how my condition was developing. After an initial discussion as to how I was adjusting to the changes happening to my body, she gave me a thorough physical examination and sent me for another scan, before discussing it further with me.

“You seem to be continuing to feminise, your breasts have gone up in size and you are definitely developing a fleshier bottom, but you probably have already noticed that. I am more interested and intrigued with what is happening to you inside your body. Your ovaries are continuing to develop and your uterus is swelling, your body seems to be becoming more and more female. Are you having problems with erections and having sex?”

"I’m still managing once I get going, but it seems to be taking a lot more effort to become erect and then climax.”

“I suggest then that this may be the time for you to start planning for the future and provide a semen sample for us to retain in case you ever want or need it. If you feel up to it today, it might be best to get started right away.”

Afterwards, I found a quiet spot to sit and reflect on what was happening to me, and what my feelings were about it. As I had told my Mum, I was comfortable and happier living as a woman for the past few months and was readily accepted by everyone who knew. Lizzie was happy however I turned out, but there was a nagging doubt with me wondering whether to accept what seemed to be inevitable or take drastic action to stop it all and try to live my life as Jack again. I wanted to eventually marry Lizzie and have children, partly to continue her family dynasty, but mainly as a symbol of love between us. I decided that when she was up at the Manor at the weekend that we needed to have a serious discussion about our futures.

The build up of the case against all the people involved in the corruption scandal was dragging out, every time the police looked into another allegation it opened up a new can of worms, and I was told that it could take months to get to a position to go to court. Other than progress reports based on whatever the police felt they could release to us for publication the story went quiet in The Post.

However the prosecution of Amanda Edwards and Andrew Ridgeley for attempted murder and conspiracy to murder me was a much easier case to prove.The police had a witness who would testify that in their opinion it was not lack of control by the BMW driver but a deliberate attempt to force me off the road. ANPR cameras proved that Amanda Edwards was on the road at the time of the incident but the main pieces of evidence were that tracks on the road verge where she had pulled in front of me matched the tyres on her BMW. And t stupidly she had forgotten to wipe her dash-cam which clearly showed her tailgating me, zooming past me, turning sharply and braking suddenly. Texts between her and Ridgeley proved that he was involved in encouraging her to carry out the attempt on my life, and even congratulated her when they thought she had killed me. Despite all this both pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ and the case had to go to trial.

That presented me with a problem in that, as I was being called to testify, I would have to appear in court and give my name under oath prior to giving evidence. My lawyer advised me that I could either appear and testify under my legal name of Jack Carter, appear as Jane but still under my legal name, or formally change my name to Jane Harrison, which is how all the police records of the case referred to me. I had already decided that as my body was continuing to feminise itself and that because of the book and my TV appearances, I was becoming widely known as Jane Harrison, it was the obvious thing to do to formally change my name. I decided to keep my Mum’s maiden name, partly to save confusion with my press and TV colleagues, but partly to distance myself from any future relationship with my father, but before I would allow my lawyer to put the process under way, I wanted discuss it with Mum, Lizzie, and Jenny.

Lizzie and Jenny were no problem, they both told me that their feelings for for me would not change, whatever name I went by. Jenny in particular understood why I wanted to use Mum’s maiden name, but I felt that Mum needed to be treated a bit more gently.

“I’ve recently had another examination by Ms. Shipley and it seems that my body is developing as more and more female, and it is becoming obvious that without significant medical intervention that is how I will end up. I have talked to Lizzie about it and I have all but decided to go with what my body seems to want to do.”

"You do what you think is best for you, I will always love you as my child, whether it is as a son or a daughter.”

“To try and make my life easier legally, I intend to change my name to Jane Harrison, keeping your maiden name, if that is ok with you. It’s what most people know me as now, and it breaks the link to my father. My lawyer has advised me that it is an easy process, and will be even easier for me because Ms. Shipley will certify that I have always been partly female and partly male, and if my body keeps developing as it has been that I will soon be physically more female than male too.”

“O course you can use my family name, I’m delighted that it is what you prefer. If I don’t end up with Charles I might try well go back to using it myself. Don’t worry about your future, there’s nothing wrong with being female. In my younger days it meant a second-class life, doing the lower-grade jobs or a life of domesticity, but nowadays women can do and be virtually anything they want to be. You are being very successful as a reporter and broadcaster, which proves my point, you can have a perfectly fulfilling life as Jane.”

As it turned out, the trial of Edwards and Ridgeley was a bit of a non-event, and I was not called as a witness so my worries about my name were not an issue. When faced with all the evidence and the way that the jury reacted to it, and the obvious scepticism they showed at the defence arguments, they changed their pleas halfway through the trial and admitted their guilt. The judge was quite critical of the defence barrister for bringing such a flimsy case to court and wasting everyone’s time. Although normally a guilty plea results in a reduced sentence, in this case the judge felt that there were no grounds for leniency and both received long custodial sentences.

During his interviews with the police, faced with the photographic and recording evidence against him, my father pleaded guilty to the charges of assaulting me and PC Galton. Although he had never been the most pleasant person, he had no criminal record, and showed genuine remorse in front of the magistrate.He was surprised and relieved to get only a suspended sentence along with a period of community service, with a warning that any misbehaviour, to anyone not just our family, would result in a prison sentence. The magistrate also formalised the restraining order I had previously arranged forbidding him to make contact with the three of us, coming within a mile of our house and Jenny’s flat or approaching us in public places.

Now that I was feeling that any further violence against me was unlikely, I decided to return to sharing the flat with Jenny, and Mum returned home. After what she termed,’a whirlwind romance with Charles, she wanted time to clear her head and decide what to do about my father and clarify exactly what her feelings were for Charles.

“Although I no longer have strong feelings for your father, I am glad that he only received a suspended sentence and didn’t face time in jail. However we were already having problems, arguing all the time and he often stormed out coming home in the early hours half-drunk, but him assaulting you was the last straw. I’m going to have a few weeks to let it all settle and, unless there’s a miracle somewhere, will start divorce proceedings, it is so much easier now, not having to prove misconduct, or have mutual consent, and should go through quite quickly. Jenny has already cut ties with him, I never knew but a couple of times when she was younger he tried to get into bed with her for sex, but she managed to fight him off and get him to leave her alone, if I had known he would have been gone from our lives a long time ago. What you decide to do is up to you, but I think that it is obvious that he is never going to accept you as Jane, and that you will be better off without him.

“You’re right Mum, I don’t think that I will ever be comfortable in his company again, and can’t see any future relationship with him. Personally I think that you should start divorce proceedings, but it’s your life and your decision.”

“It’s made a lot more difficult due to my confused feelings for Charles. it was so easy to get carried away with the grandeur of life at Bolton Manor and with Charles’ natural charm, but we are from different worlds, more so when he gets the Earldom back, I’m not sure how I would fit into it all. Besides, nothing is going any further on that front until the divorce goes through, if it does go ahead, I don’t want him dragged into any arguments in court, which could affect his good name and what happens to his title claim.”

At the weekend I arranged to spend some time at Bolton Manor with Lizzie. When I got there Lizzie had not yet arrived from London but I was cheerily greeted in his study by Charles.

“Hello again my dear, just because you finished the book, and it was excellent too, there is no need to be a stranger. Let’s get Marshall to arrange a drink for you, I would like a chat before Lizzie interrupts us. You have helped to get a lot of issues with my family sorted out and will always be welcome here, regardless of whether you and Lizzie continue your relationship. This is a strange situation, but I need your advice. I really like Nell, your mum, and at our stage in life you have to grab the opportunity when it presents itself. Do you think that it will be well received if I asked her to move in here with me and in due course arrange to get married?”

“I’m sure that she feels the same but is extremely worried that any relationship with you would come up in the divorce proceedings with my father, and your reputation and standing would be damaged. It may be best to wait a while and let her sort things out.”

“My reputation is of little consequence once the reinstatement of the earldom is complete. Although I still have a lot of financial interests from my former work in The City, I have no professional or legal responsibilities that would be compromised or suffer embarrassment. As regards my personal reputation with what you would call my fellow aristocrats, half of them are divorced and remarried, and most of the others are having affairs, it could actually help my standing with some of them to know that there is life in this old dog yet.” He burst into a grin and chuckle at what he had just said.

“Give her a couple of weeks before you approach her about it, at the moment she is a bit confused and needs a bit of a break to sort herself out
Since you have mentioned it what is the situation with your title claim, I know that the bureaucratic wheels grind ever so slowly and changes don’t happen overnight but have you had any ‘nods and winks’ about it?”

“The ‘nods and winks’, as you so quaintly put it, say that an announcement is imminent and we will soon have a celebration on our hands. You will be the first to know outside the family, then Nell, you, and Jenny must come and celebrate with Lizzie and me. That might be a good time to make my proposal to her.”

"What about William, is he still banished from the family? If it is not going to seem like you are rubbing his nose in it, he is family, and he should be there too.”

“We’ve had the results of the DNA tests which have confirmed that he is not of my bloodline, so he will not inherit the titles and estate. However we have spoken by telephone recently and he has calmed down, we had a quite civil conversation. I’ve arranged to meet him down in London to confirm if he is showing any contrition for what he did to Jenny, or if he is continuing with his devil-may-care dissolute lifestyle. Despite his bad behaviour, I don’t want to totally cut him off unless I have to, he may not be my biological child but he was born and raised here and I will always look on him as a son.”

“Between my father and your son, sometimes families are more bother than they are worth, but when it comes to the crunch they are family. Having said that, some issues with my father, that I would rather not discuss, mean that a future close relationship between us is extremely unlikely“

Our chat was interrupted when Lizzy arrived and her exuberance lightened the conversation to more general subjects while we got ready for dinner. It was not the extravagant dinner that Charles had arranged for us all previously, just a cosy normal family meal, salmon fillets, roast potatoes and vegetables with a bottle of non-vintage but excellent Viognier followed by a light blackberry and lemon fool.

Over gin and whiskey in the Orangery, Charles got Lizzie up to date on the situations with the title and his conversations with William.

“Treat him gently Daddy, he must be so frustrated that the titles will not pass to him, and indeed that he will have no title at all. Although he can be an absolute embarrassment he is still my brother and if he will change his behaviour and how he treats people, particularly women, I will be quite happy to work with him on running the estate in the future.

"He doesn’t know it but his biological father is an Earl too, casual relationships were not unusual at country house weekends at the time, we all had too much time on our hands and too much money, with no sense of responsibility. If he behaves himself I might let him know, and if t is what he wants he can approach them to see if one of their minor titles, or even just a lordship can be granted to him.”

Although William was boorish and had tried to rape Jenny, I had a degree of sympathy for him. He had been brought up believing that his future was assured and that once all his wild oats had been sown he could settle down to a life of respectability and respect, but by his own actions his life had now been turned upside down. I was glad that Charles and Lizzie were giving him an opportunity to be welcomed back into the fold, if he was prepared to change his lifestyle and attitudes, but he had yet to prove himself.

To be continued.