Other Women

by Fiona McDonald

  At the time of Elizabeth’s marriage it was deemed a very good match for a penniless young woman, even if she did come from aristocratic stock. Three years after her marriage, the unexpected happened and her father inherited the title of 4th Earl of Bristol on the death of his second eldest brother who, like the eldest brother before him, had been without legitimate children. Plain Elizabeth Foster became Lady Elizabeth.

  Although Elizabeth complained bitterly to her new best friend Georgiana that she had never wanted to marry John Foster, and had begged her parents not to make her accept, a different point of view had been put forward by her parents. They claimed that it was entirely a love match between the two young people and that they were only too happy to approve their daughter’s choice.

  If the marriage of Elizabeth Christiana Hervey to John Foster was originally a love match, by 1780 it most definitely was not. Elizabeth was pregnant with the couple’s second child. Foster was accused of seducing his wife’s maid and this was the story that Elizabeth’s family supported when their daughter’s marriage failed. Foster refused to try to reconcile and insisted on a permanent separation. Under the rules of the separation Foster enforced his right to have custody of the two children. Elizabeth was not allowed to see her two boys for fourteen years. Foster also refused to maintain his wife after their break-up. Elizabeth Foster was returned to her parents to be supported by them.

  The Earl of Bristol gave his daughter an allowance of £300 a year. It was an amount that was considered well below that needed to maintain the standard of an earl’s daughter. Even in this the earl was so careless with money that the allowance was not paid regularly and Elizabeth was often short of money, even for necessities.

  It was as the penniless and abandoned wife of a man who had used her cruelly that Elizabeth came to be friends with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Perhaps the two young women felt an affinity through the lack of love from their spouses. The result was that during the Devonshires’ time in Bath, Georgiana took it on herself to take Elizabeth Foster under her protective wing.

  Elizabeth, whom Georgiana called Bess, made herself a friend of the duke’s as well, and for a while she seemed to bring the couple together as they had never been before. Having Bess living in the household was both a blessing and a torment for Georgiana. When they were alone they were the best of friends, joking, laughing, sharing secrets and using nicknames for each other: Georgiana was Mrs Rat and Bess was Racky (supposedly because of her cough); they both referred to the Duke as Canis (for his love of dogs). When Georgiana’s husband was at home the situation became a trifle strained. Before too long, though, as was bound to happen, Georgiana began to suspect that the duke was overly fond of Mrs Foster. Bess had been unwell with a nasty and persistent cough. The duke took an unusual interest in the welfare of his wife’s companion, which Bess enjoyed very much it seems.

  When Georgiana became pregnant again she was urged by her mother to take things easy, meaning in particular to stop partying so hard and to stay at home and rest. It was at this time that Bess was formally engaged by the duke and duchess to be the governess of little Charlotte, who was still very much Georgiana’s darling. The governess and her charge were to go and spend the winter in the south of France. It was to be a healthy trip away for both of them, hopefully providing a cure for Bess’s persistent cough.

  Georgiana was very upset at the idea of both her dearest people going away from her for so long a time, but her mother, Lady Spencer, who suffered from jealousy at the friendship between her daughter and Bess, was relieved and thought she would be able to have her daughter’s entire affection directed towards herself again.

  Georgiana spent most of the ensuing months at home, as she’d been advised, while she awaited the birth of her baby. The duke was absolutely sure the child would be female and therefore put out that it was of no interest to him. In July 1783 Georgiana did give birth to a little girl. She, at least, was delighted with her baby and, most unusually for the time, breastfed the infant herself. It was not considered the thing to do for aristocrats, who nearly always employed a wet nurse for the purpose. Georgiana, however, probably in the absolute delight that she had successfully borne a child, was going to indulge every maternal bone in her body. The move was popular with the duchess’s many fans.

  In the meantime, Bess Foster was feeling left out of all the excitement and afraid that her companionship to the duchess was no longer needed now that she had a child of her own. Even the duke seemed in danger of neglecting the one-time favourite. Bess wrote letters to both duchess and duke but to the former she let it be known that she was not able to live on her meagre income. The duchess was wracked with guilt and made sure that money was sent immediately.

  Bess, relieved of her financial troubles (she too had been in debt, maybe not as a gambler but because she liked to live beyond her means) was able to live comfortably in Italy and ended up taking a house in Naples, where she was reported to have been entertaining not one but two lovers. Charlotte, the duke’s illegitimate daughter, was still under Bess’s care.

  Georgiana wrote a letter to Bess trying to assure her that she didn’t believe a word of what was being said about her. Bess realised that her affairs were not as private as she had thought and had to work hard at making sure her reputation was not tarnished to such an extent that the duke and duchess dismissed her from their acquaintance (and employment). She wrote affectionate letters back to both of them and made sure she kept a lower profile while on the Continent.

  In the following year Georgiana’s father died and she was feeling guilty that she had not been with him when he was ill. She poured her heart out, as usual, to Bess. And then when she and her husband went to Bath, again for health reasons, they both wrote to Bess telling her how much they missed her and how different their visit was this time round without her happy company. It was not long before Georgiana was begging her friend to return home.

  While she had been in France and Italy, Bess had made several romantic conquests, one of them being Cardinal Bernis and another Count Fersen, a Swedish diplomat who had the honour of being the lover of Marie Antoinette. Bess was obviously enjoying life abroad and although she did not want to sever ties with the Devonshires, she was not ready to return to their stable. Georgiana became quite agitated at Bess’s procrastination in returning as requested, the latter claiming her health was not up to the trip and that Charlotte needed another year in which to become more refined and ladylike. Also, in one letter Bess commented that on her return the tongues would begin to wag again.

  Georgiana countered this with a plan in which Bess would return home to them in England but would have her own residence where she would spend a respectable amount of time. She would no longer be Charlotte’s governess and therefore would have the freedom to be a companion to both the Duke and duchess as commanded. Georgiana could not understand her friend’s reluctance to take up such an offer.

  Bess did not leave Italy until August 1784 when Georgiana finally pleaded the Duke’s ill health as a reason for her to return to them in England. When Bess arrived back she was extremely thin, to an unhealthy extent. Georgiana’s mother, who had always disliked Bess and distrusted her completely, suggested that she would do better to go abroad again, as obviously the English climate did not suit her.

  Bess did become the subject of speculation, though not outright gossip. It was wondered what the nature of her relationship with the duke and duchess really was, but friends and relations of the married couple couldn’t find anything untoward happening. Georgiana did not seem to find the solace in her friend that she thought she would, and her own suspicions about Bess and the duke began to rise again. This time they were not without foundation.

  After Bess returned, her thinness began to worry Georgiana and the duke so much that they took her to London to see the eminent physicians of the day. Nothing in particular was diagnosed but the general medical opinion was that Bess needed to live in a warmer climate. She was to go b
ack to France, Paris to be exact. She was to go without Charlotte and she would have all expenses paid and a handsome allowance.

  It was while she was in Paris that Bess realised she was expecting the duke’s child. It was not a welcome surprise, nor was the news that Georgiana was also pregnant again. Bess was worried about losing her friend and her reputation, and jealous at having to share the duke’s attentions with Georgiana. Bess attached herself to the Duke of Dorset, becoming his mistress in Paris. Even though she had a new protector she realised she couldn’t pin the pregnancy on him and that she would have to take herself somewhere quiet and out of society. She went to stay with her brother in Italy.

  In September 1784 Georgiana gave birth to another daughter, Harriet. Bess was to also have a girl, Caroline Rosalie, born at an inn in rural Italy under false pretences; Bess was supposedly the wife of Louis (in reality a servant to Bess’s brother John) and it was in this squalid and unfriendly place that she went into labour. She had received secret letters from the duke hinting at his concern for her but never overtly naming the cause of it. He did tell her how much he missed her and what his plans involving her were. Whether this was any consolation in her hour of need is not known.

  The kindly servant, Louis, took Caroline to his own family to be brought up amongst them. This meant that Bess could visit the child and know she was being well looked after. With her mind at ease over baby Caroline, Bess returned to the social life she had been enjoying until her pregnancy began to show. One of the first things she did was to fall for the Russian Ambassador in Italy.

  The duke and duchess were again letting Bess know how much they both missed her and wanted her home again with them. The duke knew what prevented Bess from accepting the offer straight away and he tried to tell her that Georgiana didn’t know about them, and wouldn’t get to know if he could help it, but if she did find out he told Bess that he would take all the blame. There was still Caroline to consider, however, and whatever else Bess may have been she seemed genuinely to love her children. She had already lost two to her husband. Could she bear to be parted from her third?

  It wasn’t until July 1786 that Bess was able to go back to England to be with her two best friends. She had managed to persuade the Comte St Jules to claim little Caroline as his daughter but to an unnamed mother. Caroline officially took his name and was made at home there. The duke went to meet Bess at Southampton on her arrival from France. Georgiana did not accompany him although other family members were there, so displays of affection were probably kept very quiet. All Bess’s worries and jealousies about the duke were put aside at the reunion. What is more, the duke was suffering from his recurring gout problem and this may well have put the dampeners on any romantic activities.

  Georgiana, although she did continue to have doubts about her friend’s motives towards her husband, relied on Bess for support. Georgiana was frequently in financial trouble. She was still a compulsive gambler and through secretly borrowing and losing she had clocked up an enormous debt. Creditors were on her back, threatening to reveal to the duke the extent of her profligacy. One in particular was causing the duchess great agitation, a man called Martindale. Georgiana had made a deal with him over the betting table that when one of them won something over the other they could double or even treble the sum. This meant that the downward spiral for the duchess took an even faster pace.

  By the time of Bess’s return to the family home, Georgiana was in debt to the tune of £100,000 (around £6 million today). It is no wonder she was suffering from nervous seizures and upsets. Bess was studiously avoiding her friend, afraid of her guilt coming to the fore and bringing her comfortable situation to an end.

  In September Bess’s former flame, the Duke of Dorset, visited the Devonshires and began a flirtatious relationship with the duchess. Bess was not at all jealous; it meant that she commanded the Duke of Devonshire’s attention. Georgiana experienced a strange illness after her admirer had left the house. It meant she stayed in her own rooms for long periods of time alone, except for her mother. While the duchess was indisposed in this way Bess took it upon herself to take over the role of mistress of the house (as well as mistress of the master).

  Finally, and perhaps in order to put an end to her emotional suffering, Georgiana told her husband about the debts she owed to Martindale. She did not tell him about the other debts she had accrued. Although she expected her husband to be furious with her, she did not expect his violent declaration that he wished to be separated from her. The duchess, and her family, were devastated.

  Bess, Georgiana’s bosom companion, did not rush to her side to support her in her dire distress. Perhaps she wondered whether Georgiana’s removal from her husband’s side might benefit her own agenda. Would she be able to step into Georgiana’s shoes, to run the household and have the duke to herself? The big hitch in this plan was that the duke still wanted a legitimate heir and in order to do that he needed to maintain his marriage to Georgiana and, of course, access to her bed.

  Bess realised that to be the duke’s mistress, publicly acknowledged, was probably not the course she wanted things to take. It would mean she would become a social pariah and, although she might have the duke, she would not have the parties and social status that she loved and craved. Bess decided she would wait.

  In the end, nothing happened. Georgiana stayed as head of her own house and continued to sleep with the duke, as her position demanded. The duke, in what seems to be absolutely characteristic of his natural apathy, let the matter drop, almost as if he had forgotten about it or had tired of it. He appeared to enjoy domestic comfort and for that to happen he had to have both his wife and his mistress – and the two women were expected to get along and be happy. For her part Georgiana genuinely loved Bess and relied on her for companionship and to help her communicate with her husband. Bess, although not happy in sharing her lover, did appreciate the friendship of the duchess and the society into which such a friendship led her.

  A plan was made to help Georgiana get out of debt (although only for the amount she had confessed to); limits were put on her allowance and the time she could spend in London, in order to limit further damage being made at the gaming tables.

  In 1788 Bess conceived another child. She declared it was the Duke of Devonshire’s but there has always been some doubt, because at the time the Duke of Richmond was making unmistakable advances in her direction. It is thought that Bess may have been stringing him along as well. Bess told Georgiana about the pregnancy, not hiding it and suffering as she had done before. The time had long passed since the two women pretended they didn’t know what was happening between each of them and the duke. Georgiana wanted to go with Bess to France to be with her during the confinement. However, Lady Spencer intervened, hinting to her daughter that she was worried that if she was alone in France she may well be tempted to fall in with the Duke of Dorset (with whom she had already had a dalliance) who resided there. Thus Georgiana stayed at home and played the dutiful wife. Bess had her baby, a boy whom she named appropriately so that his paternity was suggested without being overtly stated, Augustus William James Clifford. The second and last names, both being Cavendish names, hinted at the boy’s father.

  During Bess’s trip away something happened to Georgiana: a young man called Charles Grey fell madly in love with her and she with him. Whether anything came of it at this point, other than a flattering flirtation, is uncertain. However, something certainly happened later on …

  A year after the birth of little Augustus William, the happy trio of Georgiana, the duke and Bess set out for France. The duke wanted to take health treatment at Spa, Georgiana was hoping it would help her to conceive a baby boy and Bess wanted to see her two youngest children. It was not a good time to travel in France; the revolution was on its way and violence was already breaking out. They did not stay in Paris for long but made their way to Spa. Before leaving the city Georgiana paid a private farewell to her dear, faithful friend Marie Antoinette,
who had supported the duchess throughout a decade and a half of marital trauma, rejection, miscarriages and the permanent inclusion of Bess into the intimate household. Georgiana and the Queen of France would not meet again.

  Another concern was the welfare of the duke’s two illegitimate daughters and his illegitimate infant son who had been left in Paris: Charlotte by his first mistress, and Caroline and Augustus William by Bess. With the help of their long-term family friend James Hare, Charlotte and Caroline were carried to Spa to be with their parents (so to speak). The duke’s longed-for son, who unfortunately had to remain a secret, did not make it to England until 1791, when he was placed with a family living in Somerset.

  In September 1789, while the Devonshires were still in Spa, Georgiana discovered she was indeed pregnant. She was anxious to return home and away from the violence but her husband forbade her to travel, fearful it might induce miscarriage.

  In December the duke returned to England, leaving his two women to care for each other in France. Neither of them was happy about his leaving them there. Lady Spencer had travelled over to Brussels, where the little party had ended up staying until a house was made available for Georgiana and her retinue just outside of Paris. The city itself was subdued. In May 1790 Georgiana went into labour and Bess was swiftly packed off to the opera by an anxious Lady Spencer – so that witnesses would see her in public as there had been rampant speculation about which of ‘the two Mrs Devonshires’ was really pregnant. The English aristocracy did not want to have a swift swap pulled on them and be forced to accept as the true heir of Devonshire a boy who was really the son of the duke’s mistress.