The memories of Adaline (Jacob Frye x OC)

Chapter 4; The Blackburn Estate

The Blackburn Estate
August 1850

After my eleventh birthday, we spent the August on the Blackburn Estate, north of Oxford, waiting for the autumn to arrive. We travelled there every year, usually in April or August, because that's when the estate was the most beautiful. It was our third visit, on which Aunt Martha travelled with us. The Blackburn family loved her, seeing her as a member of our family.

The Blackburn family, like the Lanchester family before, had three members. The master of the house was my uncle, Archibald Blackburn, who lived a happy life with his wonderful wife, my Aunt Elizabeth, and their only daughter, Clarissa. Although, my grandparents on my mother's side lived not so far from the estate, in Oxford to be exact, but they didn't have a good relationship with my uncle. They visited the Lanchester family in London about three or four times a year, but since my mother's funeral, they visited the Lanchester House only once. Sometimes they sent us telegrams, but over time their frequency decreased to a third. As for personal visits, my grandfather, Edgar had never-ending to-do lists, while my grandmother, Eselle wrote different excuses in every telegram.

It has been many years since my grandparents visited the Blackburn family, partly because of my uncle, partly because of my aunt. My grandparents wanted my Uncle Archie to be a politician, but he was not interested in politics or legislation. He was interested in something else. Something that my grandparents thought was nonsense, and this interest is the various branches of science. My uncle Archie was quite knowledgeable in physics, chemistry and geography, but he devoted most of his free hours to astronomy. At the time, I didn't really understand what made some bright dots in the night sky so interesting.

"Yes! That's will be her name!" Clarissa cheered, chasing my thoughts away. It was already late in the afternoon and we were spending our time in the barn of the estate, because of the foals that arrived a few days ago. We were sitting on the hay bales, and before I got lost in my thoughts, my cousin told me about the white spot on the horses' foreheads being called a star, even if it is not star-shaped.

The Blackburn family had been considering having horses on their estate for many years. Uncle Archie loved the horses, while Aunt Elizabeth was fascinated by these magnificent creatures. A few times she mentioned that horses were part of her life when she was a little girl, because her parents plowed their land with their strong horses for decades. Aunt Elizabeth was not the child of a rich and noble family, and knowing this information, it is no longer a secret why my grandparents were not satisfied with the choice of their son. Needless to say, Uncle Archie was never interested in meeting the expectations of society. He did not wish to be rich or famous, he wanted to be happy. He often told us that being rich should not be measured in silver coins or gold jewellery, but in everything that makes us happy. Aunt Elizabeth was one of the source of this happiness immeasurable in silver and gold, so my uncle would have even brought down his beloved stars from the sky, if he could please his dear wife with them. My uncle could make Aunt Elizabeth happy even by giving her a bouquet of cornflowers. She loved the scent of the petals, but she loved their colours more than anything else, because Aunt Elizabeth's talent really showed when she picked up a paintbrush. She often spent hours, sometimes days, painting any of her masterpieces. Sometimes she chose small canvases, sometimes large canvases. Sometimes she used olive green colour, sometimes mustard yellow. With her brushstrokes, she often created woodpeckers and bees, but most of her beautiful paintings were inspired by flowers. Lilac, lavender, bellflower and crocus were her favourites, yet we often saw cornflowers on her masterpieces. Yes, she loved blue and purple flowers. Besides, she did not hide that if she did not create beautiful things with brushstrokes, she would be a writer, just like Charlotte Brontë, because literature was close to her heart.