Read Online Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women by Elizabeth Mahon - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Mahon
Ads: Link
laudanum, a concoction derived from opium and alcohol. It was used for everything from menstrual cramps to nervous ailments, from colds to cardiac diseases. The problem was that it was also addictive. Caroline began to use laudanum and alcohol indiscriminately to ease her nerves and the sting of Byron’s betrayal.
Byron married Lady Melbourne’s niece Annabella Milbanke in 1815, but after their first child was born, a daughter named Ada Augusta, the couple separated in 1816. Caroline at first was on Team Byron, writing to him, urging him to reconcile with his wife or to give her a large settlement so that a scandal could be avoided. If Caroline was hoping for a big thank-you from Byron, she was mistaken. All bets were off when she learned from John Murray that Byron had been so violent and cruel that Annabella feared for her life. Caroline swore to have no more communication with Byron. She also informed Annabella that he had confessed to an incestuous relationship with Augusta at their last meeting, although she begged Annabella not to tell Byron that she was the one who told her. When Annabella spread the word, Byron was forced to leave England.
Caroline got her own revenge of a sort in 1816 with the publication of her novel Glenarvon , a thinly disguised account of her relationship with Byron. She even quoted one of his letters in the novel. A gothic melodrama, her husband, William, also appears in it as the heroine’s cynical husband who destroys his young wife’s faith, while Byron is the hero/villain accredited with every crime from murder to incest to infanticide. The roman à clef also satirized the Holland House set so perfectly that twenty years after the book appeared, friends still called Lady Holland the Princess of Madagascar, after the character modeled on her, behind her back. Although the book was published anonymously, the ton were aware of the author and began to shun her. To Caroline’s delight and everyone else’s dismay the book sold out. When Byron heard the news, he told his publisher John Murray, “Kiss and tell, bad as it is, is surely somewhat less than f*** and publish.”
The reviews of Glenarvon were encouraging enough for Caroline to continue to write, but the only opinion that she cared about was Byron’s. She took other lovers but they could never replace Byron in her heart. The affair made her life afterward seem dull by comparison. In 1820, she appeared at a masquerade ball dressed like Don Juan, after the first cantos of Byron’s now classic poem had been published. Four years later, she had a nervous breakdown after accidentally encountering Byron’s funeral cortege as it passed through Welwyn, near Brocket Hall. As her health declined, she began abusing alcohol and laudanum and gave up regular meals and all semblance of order.
William’s parents had encouraged him for years to formally separate from Caroline for the good of his career. They had even gone so far as to try and have her committed. However, every time he took steps to do so, they would reconcile. Despite her bad behavior, he continued to love her, although her tantrums and affairs took a toll on him. Finally in 1825, after William dithered about the separation one too many times, his sister Emily viciously and aggressively attacked Caroline, threatening a public trial. Caroline agreed to the separation.
By 1827, she was an invalid, under the full-time care of a physician. William had been given the post of Secretary for Ireland and was away when she took a turn for the worse. Despite the past, he was still devoted enough to her that he came back from Ireland in inclement weather to be by her side when she died on January 26, 1828. She was only forty-two years old. After her death, William never remarried. He told Lady Brandon, soon to become his mistress, that he felt “a sort of impossibility of believing that I shall never see her countenance or hear her voice again.”
Jane
Byron married Lady Melbourne’s niece Annabella Milbanke in 1815, but after their first child was born, a daughter named Ada Augusta, the couple separated in 1816. Caroline at first was on Team Byron, writing to him, urging him to reconcile with his wife or to give her a large settlement so that a scandal could be avoided. If Caroline was hoping for a big thank-you from Byron, she was mistaken. All bets were off when she learned from John Murray that Byron had been so violent and cruel that Annabella feared for her life. Caroline swore to have no more communication with Byron. She also informed Annabella that he had confessed to an incestuous relationship with Augusta at their last meeting, although she begged Annabella not to tell Byron that she was the one who told her. When Annabella spread the word, Byron was forced to leave England.
Caroline got her own revenge of a sort in 1816 with the publication of her novel Glenarvon , a thinly disguised account of her relationship with Byron. She even quoted one of his letters in the novel. A gothic melodrama, her husband, William, also appears in it as the heroine’s cynical husband who destroys his young wife’s faith, while Byron is the hero/villain accredited with every crime from murder to incest to infanticide. The roman à clef also satirized the Holland House set so perfectly that twenty years after the book appeared, friends still called Lady Holland the Princess of Madagascar, after the character modeled on her, behind her back. Although the book was published anonymously, the ton were aware of the author and began to shun her. To Caroline’s delight and everyone else’s dismay the book sold out. When Byron heard the news, he told his publisher John Murray, “Kiss and tell, bad as it is, is surely somewhat less than f*** and publish.”
The reviews of Glenarvon were encouraging enough for Caroline to continue to write, but the only opinion that she cared about was Byron’s. She took other lovers but they could never replace Byron in her heart. The affair made her life afterward seem dull by comparison. In 1820, she appeared at a masquerade ball dressed like Don Juan, after the first cantos of Byron’s now classic poem had been published. Four years later, she had a nervous breakdown after accidentally encountering Byron’s funeral cortege as it passed through Welwyn, near Brocket Hall. As her health declined, she began abusing alcohol and laudanum and gave up regular meals and all semblance of order.
William’s parents had encouraged him for years to formally separate from Caroline for the good of his career. They had even gone so far as to try and have her committed. However, every time he took steps to do so, they would reconcile. Despite her bad behavior, he continued to love her, although her tantrums and affairs took a toll on him. Finally in 1825, after William dithered about the separation one too many times, his sister Emily viciously and aggressively attacked Caroline, threatening a public trial. Caroline agreed to the separation.
By 1827, she was an invalid, under the full-time care of a physician. William had been given the post of Secretary for Ireland and was away when she took a turn for the worse. Despite the past, he was still devoted enough to her that he came back from Ireland in inclement weather to be by her side when she died on January 26, 1828. She was only forty-two years old. After her death, William never remarried. He told Lady Brandon, soon to become his mistress, that he felt “a sort of impossibility of believing that I shall never see her countenance or hear her voice again.”
Jane
Similar Books
Bastion Science Fiction Magazine - Issue 4, July 2014
Alex Hernandez George S. Walker Eleanor R. Wood Robert Quinlivan Peter Medeiros Hannah Goodwin R. Leigh Hennig
