Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey returns to take command of the 6th Light Dragoons in his 12th enthralling adventure January 1830, one of the hardest winters in memory. The prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, bruised by his volte-face over Catholic Emancipation, is in no mood to give way to the growing calls for parliamentary reform. Violent unrest in the countryside is on the increase, and violent protest for reform is threatening. There are no police outside London, and most of the yeomanry regiments—the volunteer cavalry to whom the magistrates traditionally turn when disorder threatens—have been disbanded as an economy measure. It is against this tense background Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey, recently returned from his assignment with the Russian army in the Balkans, takes command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons—at Hounslow.
