It’s hard to believe that seven years have passed since I caught a glimpse of Thomas Gainsborough’s 1782 painting of Lieutenant Colonel John Hayes St. Leger on a corridor wall in Buckingham Palace.

The day after, I was on a transatlantic flight home to the USA. Before the wheels touched ground, I knew what my next step was going to be. Four days later, I stood in my garden, mulling over all I had seen and done in London and Montmartre.

Although the manuscript for my debut novel, A Moon Garden, was complete, it wouldn’t be published for another year. I still needed to do some minor editing.

However, I had already outlined the plot of my next book. The purpose of my trip to England and France had been to do location scouting. Yet as soon as I saw the portrait of St. Leger, his elegant figure in a scarlet uniform, with eyes tilted up slightly as he gazed into the distance, my plans changed.

The salons of Georgian London and the powerful thoroughbreds of the racecourses that St. Leger frequented were a far cry from peat bogs and Dartmoor ponies. However, Joseph Buckleigh, the main character of A Moon Garden, and John St. Leger had a lot in common. They were both sons of wealthy landed gentry and descendants of ancient families. And both men were British Army officers, who fought valiantly in foreign wars. I was excited to begin my research into the life and times of a forgotten hero.

But first, I had to get over my jet lag. We were on the cusp of a heavy rainstorm. I took advantage of the calm and walked around my overgrown garden. If history can wait, so can pruning and weeding. I stopped to admire the fiery red blooms of the pineapple sage and inhale the fruity aroma of its bright green leaves. It’s said that this plant creates a serene environment and may even boost communication and connection. I don’t know if that’s all just fairy folklore, but on that day in January 2019, the sage did its part to keep my spirits bright as storm clouds gathered above.

Now here I am on the last day of January 2026. When I step into my garden, the trees stand taller, the clouds drift without threat of rain.

It’s been about a week since The Man in the Way, my biographical novel about John Hayes St. Leger, was published on Amazon. My quest to know him took unanticipated turns and led to surprising revelations. At long last, more than 226 years since St. Leger’s passing, the truth has been told.

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