So how do you balance historical facts with imagination while remaining respectful to the people whose stories inspire the work?

When you're filling in gaps, it's really important to understand the history of the time period that you're working in because you don't want to be disrespectful, like you said.

You don't want to go on...

I know if you're writing fiction, you think, oh, you can... make whatever you want, which is true.

But if it's historical fiction, you should take the time to understand the history, understand the rules, understand that a person who came from a very rich family would have different expectations placed on them than somebody who was from a middle class family or a lower class family.

Where a woman in a middle class family maybe could be like, I'm not marrying that person.

In an upper class family, you may not have a choice.

Right.