Hawkhurst almost flinched, so taken aback was he by the bold rejection. He drew himself up haughtily.
“Well, Foster, since you feel like that about it. I had no idea.”
Dan thought he had made it clear enough, but let it go. With a dismissive gesture of his hand, Hawkhurst moved away and clambered out of the ring. Noah and Paul moved to Dan’s side, a silent declaration that they stood by him whatever he decided. With the match officials tagging behind, the three followed Lord Hawkhurst between the ropes and across the grass to the waiting Prince. Dan hoped the presentation would not take long. The sooner it was over, the sooner he could get back to Bow Street.
The End
Notes
Bagnio
A bathing house, which might also be a brothel.
Broughton’s Rules
In 1743 champion pugilist Jack Broughton (c.1703–1789), who ran a boxing academy for the gentry in London (the amphitheatre on Oxford Road), formulated the first set of rules for the sport. They included the requirement for the chalking of a square in the centre of the ring where the fighters were placed on the lines opposite one another at the start of a round or after a fall. Defeat was signalled by a fighter failing to come up to the line within the allotted time (thirty seconds), or if his second declared him beaten. The rules banned hitting a man when he was down, and a man on his knees was counted as down. Originally intended only for use in his academy, Broughton’s Rules were widely adopted and were not replaced until the introduction of the “New Rules” in 1838.
Bum fodder
Toilet paper.
Canter
A rogue, thief or beggar (who uses the language or ‘cant’ of thieves).
Cross
A fixed fight.
Daffy
Gin.
Demirep
A woman of doubtful reputation.
Diver
A pickpocket.
Doxy
A female prostitute.
Glim
A candle, shuttered lantern or fire.
It won’t fadge
It won’t do.
Ken
A house.
Lumper
A labourer who loads or unloads ships’ cargoes.
Mill
A fist fight.
Mungo
A racist epithet: a black person or slave; also used as a proper name.
Nabbers
Police officers.
On the cheating lay
A lay is an occupation, enterprise, adventure or line (as in job).
Pug
Pugilist.
Regrate
To buy up commodities (especially food) in one market and sell them in the same or another market at a profit.
Rhino
Money.
Rookery
A crowded slum, usually the haunt of criminals; ‘a rook’ is a cheat and ‘to rook’ is to cheat.
Snowball
A racist epithet.
Square Toes
An old man; a precise, formal, old-fashioned person.
Tagtail
Parasite, hanger-on.
The Fancy
Followers of boxing. (Also used of other sports, e.g. pigeon fanciers.)
To hop the twig
To run off.
Trull
Female prostitute.
Up to scratch
A scratch (or mark) is the line drawn in a boxing ring to which boxers are brought at the start of a fight.
Wiper
Handkerchief.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all the people who have helped me in the writing of this book. I am grateful to Richard Tearle and Debbie Young for their thoughtful comments; to Alison Jack for her editorial services; and to Helen Hart and the team at SilverWood Books for being so lovely to work with. And, as ever, I couldn’t manage without my husband, Gerard, to keep me well supplied with cups of tea, encouragement and grammar lessons.
Bow Street Runners and bare-knuckle fighters,
radicals and pickpockets, resurrection men and bluestockings…
Find out more about Dan Foster’s world at
www.lucienneboyce.com
About the Author
Lucienne Boyce is an award-winning historical novelist, women’s suffrage historian and biographer. In 2006 she gained an MA in English Literature with the Open University, specialising in eighteenth-century fiction. The first Dan Foster Mystery, Bloodie Bones, was joint winner of the Historical Novel Society Indie Award 2016, and was a semi-finalist for the M M Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction 2016. The second Dan Foster Mystery, The Butcher’s Block, was published in 2017 and was awarded an IndieBrag Medallion in 2018.
Lucienne has been a member of the Historical Novel Society since shortly after its foundation. She is also a member of the steering committee of the West of England and South Wales Women’s History Network. She has been a course tutor and radio presenter, and regularly gives talks and leads workshops about her fiction and non-fiction work.
Want to know more?
Find Lucienne Boyce on Twitter: @LucienneWrite
You can stay up-to-date by visiting her website, where you can sign up to her mailing list for updates: www.lucienneboyce.com.
Other titles by Lucienne Boyce
To The Fair Land
Dan Foster Mystery series
Bloodie Bones
The Fatal Coin
The Butcher’s Block
Non-Fiction
The Bristol Suffragettes
The Road to Representation: Essays on the Women’s Suffrage Campaign
Copyright Notice
Published in 2019 by SilverWood Books
SilverWood Books Ltd
14 Small Street, Bristol, BS1 1DE, United Kingdom
www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk
Copyright © Lucienne Boyce 2019
The right of Lucienne Boyce to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Sections 77 and 78.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-78132-883-5 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-78132-884-2 (ebook)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
sp; Lucienne Boyce, Death Makes No Distinction
Death Makes No Distinction Page 24