I wish you did return my regard," he said. "More than I have ever wished anything in my life! Perhaps you may yet learn to do so: I should warn you that I don't easily despair!

The book appeared in the midst of the UK General Strike of 1926; as a result the novel received no newspaper coverage reviews or advertising. Her knowledge of the period was so extensive that Heyer rarely mentioned dates explicitly in her books; instead Georgette Heyer situated the story by casually referring to major and minor events of the time.

Heyer chose not to file lawsuits against the suspected literary thieves but tried multiple ways of minimizing her tax liability. For the rest of her life Georgette Heyer refused to grant interviews telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family.