The Toll-Gate is a Regency

English Regency

The Regency era in the United Kingdom is the period between 1811—when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son, the Prince of Wales, ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent—and 1820, when the Prince Regent became George IV on the death of his father....

 novel by Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer was a British historical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer...

, which takes place in 1817. Unlike many of Heyer's historical novels which concentrate on a plucky heroine, this one follows the adventures of a male main character, an ex-captain

Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)

Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...

 in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 who has returned from the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 and finds life as a civilian rather dull. The setting for this detective/romance story is in and around a Toll-Gate

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

 in the Peak District

Peak District

The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....

, vastly different from the elegant backgrounds of London, Bath, Brighton, or some stately home, which characterize most of Heyer's Regency novels.

Plot introduction

After acting as an aide-de-camp at the Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Jack Staple is finding civilian life tedious. Following a formal (and somewhat boring) dinner party in honour of his cousin's engagement, Jack sets out by himself on horseback to visit a more congenial friend some 60 miles away. After getting lost in the dark and rain he reaches a toll-gate where a frightened 11-year old lad is acting as toll collector in the absence of his father. A combination of curiosity, compassion, tiredness, and dampness lead him to stay at the toll house overnight with a view to sorting out the situation in the morning.

Over the next few days Jack's circle of acquaintances rapidly expands to include a highwayman

Highwayman

A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...

, a Bow Street runner

Bow Street Runners

The Bow Street Runners have been called London's first professional police force. The force was founded in 1749 by the author Henry Fielding and originally numbered just six. Bow Street runners was the public's nickname for these officers, "although the officers never referred to themselves as...

, and the local gentry

Gentry

Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....

plus their devoted retainers. Other complications include a dead body, stolen treasure, and some masked villains. In the process of preventing a scandal, Jack also manages to identify the murderer, deal with the villains, retrieve the treasure, satisfy the law, provide for his friends, and resolve his own romance.

Major characters

• Jack (John) Staple, ex-Captain of Dragoon Guards, 29 years old, tall and strong.
• Sir Peter Stornaway, local squire, bed-ridden following a stroke.
• Nell Stornaway, granddaughter to Sir Peter, 26 years old, tall.
• Jerry Chirk, highwayman.
• Gabriel Stogumber, Bow Street Runner.

Minor characters

• Henry Stornaway, grandson and heir to Sir Peter, cousin to Nell.
• Nathaniel Coate, friend to Henry.
• Gunn, servant to Nathaniel.
• Wilfred Babbacombe, friend to Jack, an ex-Army colleague.
• Edward Brean, toll-gate keeper, missing from his post.
• Ben Brean, son to Edward, 11 years old.
• Mr Willitoft, trustee of the Derbyshire Tolls

Devoted retainers

• Rose Durward, maid to Nell
• Huby, butler to Sir Peter
• Winkfield, valet to Sir Peter
• Joe Lydd, groom to Sir Peter and to Nell