The Lady with the Lamp's place in history is well known. At the end of the Crimean War, Florence returned to England incognito. People were watching for her at Dover and Folkestone, wanting to celebrate her. She got by everyone and travelled north to Lea Hurst, the Nightingales' summer home in Derbyshire.

In the story... Diana is travelling from London to Chatsworth and happens to occupy the same railcar compartment as Florence returning from the war. Diana does not know the woman's identity and in conversing with her repeatedly sticks her foot in her mouth.