Ten Things I Hate About the Duke - Loretta Chase Page 0,128

earlier alias.

SABBATH BILL. This appeared in various forms over the years. I’ve substituted my fictional Mr. Owsley for the non-fictional Sir Arthur Agnew, who sponsored the 1833 version that earned the scorn of Figaro in London (a precursor to Punch) as well as many less radical publications. The bill died one of its many deaths somewhat earlier in real life than it does in my book.

THE WHITE LION INN. The large coaching inn near Putney Bridge (aka Fulham Bridge, depending on which nineteenth-century author one is reading) appears in various accounts of Putney as the Red Lion, the White Lion, and the Putney Hotel. I went with the White Lion, the name it has in its 1889 incarnation. Whether Cassandra or Ashmont would recognize the name is debatable. I know they wouldn’t recognize the late Victorian building.

FANCY FAIR. Like several other large social events mentioned in the story, the Grand Fancy Fair and Bazaar for the Benefit of the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress actually happened. It did take place over four days at the Hanover Square Rooms on the dates specified. It was definitely jam-packed and ladies fainted all over the place. A description may be found in the Court Journal of 22 June 1833, which is online.

ASHMONT’S ARRIVAL AT DEGRIFFITH HOUSE. This is taken from a description of the dashing, real-life Count d’Orsay in Fifty Years of London Life: Memoirs of a Man of the World, by Edmund Hodgson Yates, Harper & Brothers, 1885, which is available online.

THEATER MATTERS. The Adelphi is still there, albeit in a form my characters wouldn’t recognize, the building having undergone several transformations over the years. The theater was not darkened on Monday nights. The Long Finn was a highly popular play by the highly popular American-born playwright William Bayle Bernard. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn’t printed. What I have is a photocopy of the microform of the British Library’s handwritten copy, thanks to the efforts of my indefatigable research assistant, Pamela Macaulay. If it was printed, and you know where a copy might be found, please email me. Bernard’s The Mummy, on the other hand, may be read online at Google Books and HathiTrust. It’s possible I poached the royal box at the Adelphi for my duke. Despite the abundant detail provided online about this particular theater, I discovered no way to be certain about the boxes over the stage, nor yet the saloon. In this, as in many other cases, I arranged the architecture to suit.

THE POEM TO LADY CHARLOTTE. Titled “The Bridal Gift, Addressed to the Lady Charlotte ——”, this lugubrious item did appear as described, in the Court Journal of April 1833.

BOUDICCA VS. BOADICEA. Boadicea is the name most commonly used through the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century. “Boudicca, or Buduica (we do not know exactly how to spell the name, but neither, presumably, did she) . . . For Roman writers, she was a figure simultaneously of horror and fascination. A warrior queen, intersex, barbarian Cleopatra: ‘very tall in stature, with a manly physique, piercing eyes and harsh voice, and a mass of red hair falling to her hips,’ as she was described centuries later by someone who could not possibly have known what she looked like.”—Mary Beard, SPQR (2015)

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. While perhaps not a feminist in today’s sense of the word, she was certainly one for her own time. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is still in print and available online as well.

THE PLENIPOTENTIARY. The ribald lyrics to this drinking song appear in Merrie Melodies, many editions of which can be found online.

MONEY MATTERS. Until 1971, English money wasn’t based on a decimal system. It went like this:

Twelve pence in a shilling (bob, in slang)

Twenty shillings in a pound or sovereign (a glistener)

Twenty-one shillings in a guinea

There were numerous smaller and larger units of these denominations, such as:

Ten shillings in a half sovereign.

Five shillings in a crown.

For more, please see Wikipedia’s article on “Coins of the Pound Sterling,” under “Pre-Decimal Coinage.”

As to value then compared to value today, this is a tricky subject, as you’ll discover if you search online. Multiplying by seventy to one hundred will give you a very rough sense.

You’ll find topics like these covered in my website blog in more detail, with pictures. Subscribing to the blog will not only bring story background and other interesting historical material to your inbox, but will keep you up to date with book deals, book progress, and