Her Heart for a Compass is populated by a mixture of real-life historical characters and those entirely of our own invention, and set, as far as possible, against a background of real events and locations.
Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott was the second daughter of Walter, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, and his wife, Charlotte, who were the Duchess of York’s great-great-great-grandparents. The scant information we have been able to glean about Margaret, we have woven into this story: her age, her appearance as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Princess Helena and Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein, and the date of her marriage to Donald Cameron, 24th Lochiel, which was comparatively late (she was twenty-nine, he was forty). The remainder of Margaret’s journey, save for these salient facts, is entirely fictional, though we have tried to be true to the prevailing culture of Victorian society in which she and her family would have lived, especially in the London scenes.
All Margaret’s relationships with real people, including the troubled one she has with her parents and her romance with Donald, are entirely imagined. While there is evidence that she was friendly with Princess Helena, not only from her appearance in the wedding photos but from a reference to “Helena Letters” in Donald Cameron of Lochiel’s personal papers in the Highland Council Archives, there is no evidence that Margaret and Princess Louise were friends, though they would certainly have been acquaintances. Where possible, we have tried to place Louise in the right place at the right time, primarily using Queen Victoria’s journals, with one notable exception: there is no evidence that she attended Margaret and Donald’s wedding. Princess Louise continued to sculpt and exhibit after her marriage to the Marquis of Lorne, who later became the Duke of Argyll. The couple had no children.
Mervyn, 7th Viscount Powerscourt, and Lady Julia, Viscountess Powerscourt, are coincidentally another set of the Duchess of York’s great-great-grandparents. It is from Viscount Powerscourt’s own work, A Description and History of Powerscourt, that much of the detail of the house is taken, including his obsession with stags’ heads. Interestingly, while there’s nothing to associate Lady Margaret with Powerscourt, there is an oil painting of the forest at Achnacarry with Ben Nevis in the background recorded as hanging in one of the bedroom passages, so it is just possible that Lord Powerscourt and Donald Cameron were acquainted.
Lady Julia’s desire for children was eventually fulfilled, though not until she had been married for sixteen years, after which she had five in rapid succession. Lord Powerscourt, however, had long before given up hope of having an heir and apparently set out to spend his considerable wealth in order to prevent his brother Lewis from inheriting, which meant, sadly, that his son’s inheritance was much depleted.
As for Lewis Strange Wingfield—it would be impossible for a novelist to invent a more colourful life than the one he lived. The third and youngest son of the 6th Viscount and Lady Elizabeth, some believed his father to be the 4th Marquess of Londonderry, his mother’s second husband. Lewis was variously a traveller, actor, critic, playwright, theatrical costume designer, novelist, and painter (his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy) with a penchant for role playing, spending nights in workhouses and pauper lodgings, and becoming an attendant in a madhouse and a prison. He travelled to Paris as a war correspondent during the Franco-German War (1870–71), where he trained as a surgeon. Though rumoured to be gay, he did marry in 1868, though he had no children.
The New York section of our book is also peppered with real historical characters. While their interactions with Lady Margaret are entirely imagined, every effort has been made to be true to the real person’s character and history—with apologies for any mistakes, oversights, or omissions.
Mrs. William Astor was still climbing the social ladder when Margaret arrived in New York, just ahead of the Gilded Age and the legendary “Four Hundred” defined by Samuel Ward McAllister, but they were already assuming their roles as gatekeepers to society, and the competition to gain an invitation to “the” party of the Season was fierce.
Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote a number of hugely popular articles and a cookbook as Jenny June, was a founding member of the Sorosis Club, whose first meeting took place in 1868 in Delmonico’s. Mary Louise Booth, also a founding member, became the first editor of Harper’s Bazar the same year. Both were advocates of a woman’s right to earn a living and were closely involved with the women’s suffrage movement.
James Gordon Bennett had retired from editing the New York Herald by the time we had him meet Margaret and had handed the reins over to his sports-mad son, who became the youngest-ever Commodore of the New York Yacht Club.
The lives of two of our main fictional characters have been inspired by real people. The Reverend Arthur Osborne Jay’s work in the Shoreditch parish of London is to a degree the model for Father Sebastian’s work in Lambeth. Reverend Jay, like Sebastian, believed that his parishioners’ material well-being was as important as their spiritual health, and established a social club and gymnasium in his parish.
Marion Scrymgeour’s experiences in the lower echelons of the diplomatic service have their roots in the lives of several diplomatic wives, travelers, and explorers, including Lady Mary Sheil, Isabella Bird, Lady Hester Stanhope, and Isabel Burton. It was Lady Anne Blunt who actually first established a stud with imported thoroughbred Arabian horses, rather later than our doughty Marion.
As for all the other main characters in our story, including Killin, Randolph Mueller, Susannah Elmhirst, Patrick Valentine, and Fraser Scott, their appearance, characters, and traits are entirely the fruit of our imagination.
The locations, however, are all real, and many can still be visited.
Sadly, Montagu House, which was the Buccleuch London residence until 1917, was converted to offices, and then demolished in 1949. The site is now occupied by the Ministry of Defence building. However, the other main Buccleuch residences still exist. Dalkeith Palace, just outside Edinburgh, is currently leased by the University of Wisconsin, but you can visit the surrounding park and enjoy a meal in the beautifully restored stables that were once home to Spider, Margaret’s beloved pony. Drumlanrig Castle near Dumfries can also be visited.
Donald’s home, Achnacarry Castle, was used as a base for training commandos during World War II. It still exists, and though it isn’t open to the public, you can visit the nearby Clan Cameron museum.
Inveraray Castle, principal seat of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, is still a private residence but also open to the public. The writing desk which Queen Victoria gave to Louise as a wedding present is one of the exhibits.
The world-renowned Powerscourt Gardens continued to be developed by Mervyn, Julia, and their heirs. Though they have been much enhanced since Margaret’s time, all of her favourite areas in the grounds still exist and can be visited, including of course the spectacular waterfall where Donald first proposed. Unfortunately, in 1974 a fire swept through Powerscourt House, leaving only a shell. It was twenty-two years before it was renovated, and it is now one of the Autograph Collection of hotels.
New York in the early 1870s was being built and rebuilt at a bewildering rate. We have tried to be as accurate as we could with who stayed where, and what had been built or not, using contemporary guide-books and the epic Light and Shadows of New York. Five Points in New York was the junction where Worth Street, Mott Street, Park Row, and Bowery met, just south of Columbus Park. In Margaret’s time, the area was a notorious slum, though it was not the den of iniquity and crime it later became. The two missions were located exactly as described in our book, but Margaret’s Children’s Sanctuary, sadly, never existed.
We have endeavoured to be as historically accurate as possible in all respects, but as this is a work of fiction, any inaccuracies, oversights, or errors are entirely our own.
(Signed) Sarah and Marguerite