 Many of the monuments in the grounds of Malplaquet recall notable figures of the early 18th century; "Mistress Masham's Repose" itself commemorates Abigail Masham, a close confidante of Queen Anne.Although she has no other bearing on the story, she was a cousin of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, thus providing another link between the fictional Palace of Malplaquet and the real Blenheim Palace.Blenheim and Stowe are in turn linked to each other, in that Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, who developed the house and gardens at Stowe in the early eighteenth century, was a notable soldier who had served under the Duke of Marlborough.