Only Wimsey's mother and sister, the loyal Bunter and Inspector Parker knew he was still alive.

She also played, on radio, the Dowager Duchess ( Lord Peter Wimsey's mother ) in the radio adaption of Strong Poison that starred Ian Carmichael as Peter Wimsey.

After sharing what the Dowager Duchess referred to as " a jam ", the two arranged that if they were both to survive the war, Bunter would become Wimsey's valet.

The book establishes many of Wimsey's character traits-for example, his interest in rare books, the nervous problems associated with his wartime shell-shock, and his ambiguous feelings about catching criminals for a hobby-and also introduces many characters who recur in later novels, such as Parker, Bunter, Sugg, and the Dowager Duchess.

McGregor and Lewis suggest that some of Vane's and Wimsey's observations about mystery in story versus real life — though in the context of a mystery story — reflect Sayers ' sense of fun and ability to laugh with her characters.

Lord Peter Wimsey's manservant Bunter is putting his Lordship's books away and looks with some curiosity at the chosen few left open on the table, including Housman's " A Shropshire Lad ".

In the frame of the book's plot, Wimsey's diplomatic obligations serve as a plot device to keep him away from Britain, and leave Harriet on her own for most of the book, to try to resolve the mystery at Oxford without his help.

Lord Peter Wimsey's ( fictional ) ancestry begins with the 12th-century knight Gerald de Wimsey, who went with King Richard The Lion Heart on the Third Crusade and took part in the Siege of Acre.

The only one of Wimsey's earlier women to appear on stage is the artist Marjorie Phelps, who plays an important role in " The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club ".

In 1977 C. W. Scott-Giles, an expert in heraldry, published a history of Lord Peter Wimsey's family, going back to 1066 ( but describing the loss of the family tree going back to Adam and Eve ); the book is based on material from his correspondence with Dorothy L. Sayers, who wrote at least two of the family anecdotes in the book, one of them in the French language of the Middle Ages.

Harriet is tried, but the result is a " hung " jury, thanks in no small part to the presence of Wimsey's aide, Miss Climpson, on the jury.

* Miss Katharine Climpson – spinster and enquiry agent on Wimsey's behalf

Bunter accompanies Lord Peter on secret missions into Europe for Military Intelligence while Wimsey's nephew St. George is a fighter pilot.

There is a passing reference in the book to Freddy Arbuthnot, Wimsey's friend and contact for the stock market, being in love with Sir Reuben Levy's daughter Rachel and wanting to marry her.

Meanwhile Harriet straightens out her domestic situation, learning how to fulfill her new role whilst keeping her own identity, and finds a practical solution to allow Wimsey's devoted manservant Bunter to marry without having to leave the household.

There were brief appearances by Geoffrey Russell ( Sir Henry Thorpe ), Desmond Llewelyn ( Sir Charles Thorpe, father of Sir Henry ); Mark Eden ( Detective Chief Inspector Charles Parker, Wimsey's brother in law ), John Duttine ( Wally Pratt, bellringer ) and Kenneth Colley (" Potty " Peake, local resident )

Wimsey's friend, Detective Inspector Charles Parker, conclusively disproves this notion, but Wimsey has planted a spy, Miss Joan Murchison, in Urquhart ’ s office and discovers the real culprit is Urquhart.

By the end of the book the villain has been unmasked and Harriet has finally accepted Wimsey's proposal.

Bunter, Wimsey's valet, inveigles a postmistress into handing over a letter posted in France, which confirms a link with the body, which was wearing French underclothes.

That night, Tallboy comes to Wimsey's flat and confesses.

At the end of the book, Harriet Vane finally accepts Wimsey's proposal of marriage.

A subplot in the book is Peter Wimsey's role as an informal envoy of the British Foreign Ministry, called upon to help defuse international crises where more conventional diplomats have failed.

Gerald's snobbish wife, Helen, who detests Wimsey, and their devil-may-care heir, Viscount St. George ( Wimsey's nephew, who likes him ), also make appearances in the novels, as does Lady Mary, the younger sister of the Duke and Lord Peter.

It is not exactly known when Wimsey recruited Miss Climpson to run an undercover employment agency for women, a means to garner information from the otherwise inaccessible world of spinsters and widows, but it is prior to Unnatural Death ( 1927 ), in which Miss Climpson assists Wimsey's investigation of the suspicious death of an elderly cancer patient.

However, Sayers ' first reference to Le Fanu appears in an earlier Lord Peter Wimsey novel, The Nine Tailors ( 1934 ), where he is quoted directly ( from Wylder's Hand, in the opening to the seventh " part " of Chapter II and again in the opening to the second " part " of Chapter III ) and a mysterious letter is referred to ( first by Wimsey's valet, Mervyn Bunter ) as " written by a person of no inconsiderable literary ability, who had studied the works of Sheridan Lefanu and was, if I may be permitted the expression, bats in the belfry, my lord.

Milligan is linked to a big cocaine-selling ring which Wimsey's friend and brother-in-law Chief Inspector Parker is investigating.

Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey book, Clouds of Witness, depicts trial of a peer ( Wimsey's brother ) by the House of Lords.

Inspector Parker, Wimsey's friend, is investigating this.

* Detective-Inspector Charles Parker – Wimsey's friend.

* Mervyn Bunter – Wimsey's manservant.

His mother was Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Junshi ( also called the Gojō empress 五条后 ), daughter of the minister of the left, Fujiwara Fuyutsugu.

His mother was Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Akirakeiko ( 明子 ), also called the Somedono empress 染殿后 ).

Emperor Nicholas II and his mother Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna in 1896.

* Empress Dowager Ding, mother of Murong Sheng

* Dowager Helan, mother of emperor Wei Daowudi ( b. 351 )

His mother Augusta of Saxe-Gotha becomes Dowager Princess of Wales.

His mother was Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Ishi ( 藤原苡子 )

* 1117 – 1160 Empress ( kōgō ) Fujiwara no Nariko ( 藤原得子 ), Empress Dowager Bifuku ( 美福門院 ), daughter of Fujiwara no Nagazane ( 藤原長実 ); mother of Emperor Konoe.

Only Otto III's mother Theophanu objected, as well as Otto III's grandmother, the Dowager Empress Adelaide of Italy, and his aunt, Abbess Matilda of Quedlinburg.

Because Otto III was still a child ( only eleven when his mother died ), his grandmother, the Dowager Empress Adelaide of Italy, became regent, together with Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, until he became old enough to rule on his own in 994.

Follow his coronation, a rift between Otto II and his mother, the Dowager Empress Adelaide of Italy, developed.

** His mother ( Janet Mountbatten, The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven ), wife, children, brother and nieces

A number of lives of Edward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr, generally seen as a victim of the Queen Dowager Ælfthryth, mother of Æthelred.

Philippa married Edward at York Minster, on 24 January 1328, eleven months after his accession to the English throne ; although, the de facto rulers of the kingdom were his mother, Queen Dowager Isabella and her avaricious lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, who jointly acted as his regents.

* Princess Dowager Helan, mother of emperor Wei Daowudi ( d. 396 )

His mother Empress Dowager Chu, becomes the ruling authority at court and served as regent.

During the Delicate Investigation, Caroline was not permitted to see her daughter, and afterwards her visits were essentially restricted to once a week and only in the presence of Caroline's own mother, the Dowager Duchess of Brunswick.

In 1241, when Isabella and Hugh were summoned to the French court to swear fealty to King Louis IX of France's brother, Alphonse, who had been invested as Count of Poitou, their mother, the Queen Dowager Blanche openly snubbed her.

During these minorities, the Empress Dowager ( i. e., the Emperor's mother ) would possess significant power.

Prominent examples include Empress Dowager Cixi, mother of the Tongzhi Emperor ( 1861 – 1874 ), and aunt and adoptive mother of the Guangxu Emperor ( 1874 – 1908 ), who ruled China for 47 years ( 1861 – 1908 ), Empress Wu Zetian ( who ultimately declared herself Empress, and was subsequently overthrown ) and the Empress Dowager Lü of the Han Dynasty.

Although the Emperor had the highest status by law, by tradition and precedent the mother of the Emperor, i. e., the Empress Dowager ( 皇太后 ), usually received the greatest respect in the palace and was the decision maker in most family affairs.

Her father later wrote to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria, on 10 September 1911, that the event had upset both girls.