That Lord Waterford had some role has been accepted by several modern authors, who suggest that a humiliating experience with a woman and a police officer could have given him the idea of creating the character as a way of "getting even" with police and women in general. They speculate that he could have designed (with the help of friends who were experts in applied mechanics) some sort of apparatus for special spring-heeled boots, and that he may have practised fire-spitting techniques in order to increase the unnatural appearance of his character. They also note the embroidered coat of arms with a "W" letter observed by the servant boy during the Ashworth incident, a notorious coincidence with his title's territorial designation.