In October 1925 Rougier was sent to work in the Caucasus Mountains, partly because he had learned Russian as a child. Heyer remained at home and continued to write. In 1926 she released "These Old Shades", in which the Duke of Avon courts his own ward. Unlike her first novel, "These Old Shades" focused more on personal relationships than on adventure. The book appeared in the midst of the 1926 United Kingdom general strike; as a result the novel received no newspaper coverage, reviews or advertising. Nevertheless the book sold 190,000 copies. Because the lack of publicity had not harmed the novel's sales, Heyer refused for the rest of her life to promote her books, even though her publishers often asked her to give interviews. She once wrote to a friend that "as for being photographed at Work or in my Old World Garden, that is the type of publicity which I find nauseating and quite unnecessary. My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."