To get an idea of just how extraordinary the woman I have portrayed must have been, let me give you an insight into what her life might have been like. For a start, the dynasty she was born into was one notch off royalty. Both her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, had held senior positions at court and were intimate with both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The royal couple paid them a great honour by visiting Dalkeith Palace in 1842 at the beginning and the end of a royal tour primarily organised by the duke. If you visit the towns of Dalkeith or Dumfries, where two of their stately homes are located, you can see the Buccleuch name everywhere you look—on street signs, over pubs, on plaques, and on civic buildings. The Buccleuchs were a serious power couple of the day.

Margaret was educated at home by governesses, but with minimal emphasis on subjects like math and literature. She would have been taught embroidery and deportment. She could probably speak French, play the piano or the harp, and paint with watercolours. But the most important aspect of her education would have been preparing her for her future role as the wife of an eminent nobleman, with several great households to run. Though I have chosen to feature Dalkeith Palace as Margaret’s main childhood residence, in reality she would probably have shuttled between all of the magnificent family estates in Scotland and England. She wouldn’t have a clue how to make a bed or boil an egg, but she’d be able to plan a twelve-course dinner for fifty guests or a light supper for a ball with two hundred attendees. She’d be expected to understand the niceties of court protocol and precedence, as well as politics, in order to ensure that dinner guests were appropriately seated, that the best bedrooms were appropriately allocated, and that the right mix of guests was invited—avoiding political and romantic clashes! Flitting between those various country establishments and Montagu House, the family’s London residence, would have been an almost military exercise carriedout several times a year. The family would have moved from town to country and back again, depending on whether Parliament was sitting or whether the grouse season had opened. The family would have moved again at Christmas and Easter, and most importantly to London in the spring when girls made their debuts during the Season.