Author’s Notes

As with all historical fiction, some of the elements of this story are true accounts of history and well-researched fact. I used original sources and journals whenever possible, and the setting and characters are accurate to Regency-period England. In addition, the following people and events deserve mention as nonfictional parts of the story:

• Horatia was the filly of the stallion, Eclipse, one of the most famous and desired bloodlines in England.
• There was an actual Cato Street Conspiracy, and it was in fact prevented and broken up in a meeting in a pub near Grosvenor Square similar to what was described in the book. I took some liberties with the timeline. It actually happened after the Peterloo Massacre.
• Jonathon and Jane Smith were real owners of the Adelphi Theatre. Jane played a huge role in the management of the theatre and was its principal playwright. The circumstances of Jonathon Smith’s death were fictionalized.
• Henry Hunt was a real man who gave many a stirring oration. He was a fighter for the rights of the working classes and spent time in prison for it. His role in Peterloo and in its delay of one week is accurately portrayed.
• The quotation on page 225 is an excerpt from the intercepted letter written by Joseph Johnson, Secretary of the Manchester Patriotic Union, to Henry Hunt (Robert Reid, The Peterloo Massacre, [London; William Heinemann, 1989], 115).
• Jonathon Edward Taylor was the owner of The Manchester Guardian. All other information about him was strictly fiction.
• The Manchester Guardian is a real press, founded during the events of Peterloo. It is still actively publishing news today in Manchester, England as The Guardian.
• Percy Bysshe Shelley was travelling and heard of the events of Peterloo and penned his poem, “The Masque of Anarchy”, in sorrow and tribute to those who demonstrated. I took liberties surrounding its publication, which occurred in 1832.
• The events of the Peterloo Massacre and those leading up to it are as accurate as I could make them, down to the colors on the banners, the influence of the women and their white clothing, the crowd, the numbers, the order of events, the cavalry’s behavior, and the peace of the general populace of demonstrators. I took small liberty with its location. St. Peter’s Fields is in Manchester, which is not located as near to London as I allude.
• Chartism, briefly mentioned in the Epilogue, didn’t occur until 1836.

My inclusion of these specific, true details is my tribute to a group who bravely stood for freedom and sacrificed for it.