The Devonshires by Roy Hattersley

Author:Roy Hattersley [Roy Hattersley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2013-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

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fn1 Fox did not take his seat as Member for Westminster until the spring of 1785. Claims of malpractice – almost certainly malicious – delayed the declaration of the result until the House of Commons voted to abandon a protracted investigation. Fortunately he had also been elected Member for Orkney and Shetland and he represented that constituency during the investigation.

CHAPTER 18

Games of Chance

IT WAS ONLY to be expected that Georgiana – a woman in her mid-twenties who was neglected by her husband – would grasp, with pathetic gratitude, the brief opportunity to star in a long-running political drama. But the moments of glory – called back from Chatsworth to revive Fox’s flagging campaign and receiving the acclamation of the Whig crowd side by side with the Prince of Wales – soon passed and she was again faced by the demons of self-doubt and loneliness. She longed for the companionship of Lady Elizabeth Foster and urged her to return to England in the language she thought most likely to achieve that result. ‘As much as I long to see you, it is not for myself I write. I am certain that poor Canis’s health and spirits depend on your soothing friendship.’1 Elizabeth was growing tired of wandering and, in preparation for her homecoming, responded to Georgiana’s letter in a way she thought guaranteed to ensure a warm welcome. ‘I cannot live away from you. I am miserable without you. Our hearts are formed for each other. I’ve lost the most precious time of our lives by being away.’2

So it was agreed that she should return to England. But after a brief sojourn at Chatsworth the Duke announced that she was so worn and pale that she should spend the winter in a warmer climate at his expense. It was in France that Elizabeth first heard of the growing suspicion that she and Georgiana were partners in an actively lesbian relationship. Elizabeth was scandalised by the accusation – though she implied that the allegation was made against Georgiana not her. ‘Does the warm impulse of two hearts want an excuse to be accounted for, and must your partiality for me be ushered in by another connection?’3 Once in Paris – with her social status guaranteed by letters of introduction from the Duchess – she began to forget her longing for England, home and Georgiana and, as if to demonstrate her heterosexuality, became the mistress of the Duke of Dorset, the British Ambassador, thus joining a ménage which included the Countess of Derby, La Baccelli (a principal dancer with the Paris ballet) and a courtesan, described by the diarist Nathaniel Wraxall as ‘the celebrated Nancy Parsons’.4 However, when she wrote to Georgiana to confess and ask forgiveness for her betrayal it was not the liaison with Dorset for which she apologised. The cause of her regret was a previous relationship about which she, wisely, gave no details. She was pregnant. The Duke of Devonshire was the father of her unborn child.

Elizabeth’s confession was made in a letter which crossed in the post with one from the Duchess of Devonshire.

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