The inspiration behind Mr. Langford . . .

Have you wondered what Mr. Langford actually looks like?

At the end of Chapter 2 in Saddled with Murder, Bertie refers to Mr. Langford as "the poet." In Chapter 3 ("The Poet and His Eyelashes"), Harriet muses:

". . . Mr. Stanley Langford approached us with the light, cheerful air of a man who has no idea how attractive he is. He was not, in fact, a poet. I had once told Bertie that Langford's chestnut curls and sensitive face reminded me of a portrait of John Keats. Bertie replied that Langford did look the type that would spend entirely too long contemplating a Grecian urn—and had taken to calling him 'the poet.' "

Later, Harriet compares Bertie's pasture to "Keats' 'faery lands forlorn,' " and amuses herself with the thought of taking Langford for a stroll around the pasture.

This portrait of John Keats (1795-1821) was the inspiration for Mr. Langford. And for some reason, a certain Keats poem is already mysteriously worming its way into the plot of Book 2 . . . but in a humorous way.  I won't reveal the name of the poem till later, but feel free to take a guess!