The initial setting for The Story of Lucy Gault is provincial Ireland in the early 1920's and while the setting remains mainly in Ireland, the time frame progresses to the present. Civil unrest and anti-English sentiments caused much violence and chaos. Heloise is English, so she feels that she is the cause of the violent intrusion of their home. The assumption and her belief that the attackers would come back is not supported or negated. Lahardane is the Gaults' family estate, and it is evident that the home is more than the house.