Brief Interrupting Mystery

I know I promised to do Part 2 of “Notes for the Curious” yesterday; I apologize that I didn’t follow through with it. (I actually got very sick on Thursday and am still recovering now.)

Still, my apologies, and I hope to have the article written as soon as possible.

In the meanwhile, perhaps all of you can help me with a mystery that’s related to Carr’s epigraphs: I recently finished re-reading He Who Whispers, and I noted that historian-hero Miles Hammond has a very important-to-the-his-character dream involving Lady Pamela Hoyt, whom Carr describes as “a sprightly court beauty of a hundred and forty years gone by, no better than she should be, and perhaps a murderess.”

The question, then: was Lady Pamela a real person?

I know the question may sound daft, but I’m completely unable to find any evidence on her. To be sure, one of the characters–Barbara Morell–has equal trouble finding her (she’s not in the encyclopedia, Barbara says)–but I don’t know if Lady Pamela is a real historical personage or someone Carr invented. The latter option seems unlikely, as there would be no logical reason (JDC could have found some other historical figure to play the same role), and she is paired (in the book) with Agnès Sorel, the real-life maîtresse-en-titre of King Charles VII of France.

Any historians out there, amateur or professional? I cannot find any information on Lady Pamela, and I’d like to know if she were real or not before posting Part Two.

Thanks to everyone, and–again–my sincerest apologies for missing yesterday’s “deadline”!

Karl