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12 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, I, p. 306: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, circa late 1801.
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22: POWER STRUGGLES
1 BL Add. MSS 45548, f. 81: Bess to Lady Melbourne, Oct. 26, 1801.
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2 Ibid., f. 83: Bess to Lady Melbourne, Oct. 31, 1801.
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3 Ibid., f. 85: Bess to Lady Melbourne, Feb. 20, 1802.
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4 Morning Herald, April 15, 1802.
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5 Chatsworth 1645: GD to LS, Sept. 1, 1802.
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6 Claire Tomalin in The Times Literary Supplement, Dec. 2, 1994.
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7 Chatsworth 1602: GD to LS, August 31, 1801.
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8 BL Add. MSS 45548, f. 24: GD to Lady Melbourne, circa 1801/2.
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9 Morning Herald, July 14, 1801.
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10 BL Althorp G283: LS to second Earl Spencer, Feb. 3, 1802.
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11 Chatsworth 1606: fifth Duke of Bedford to GD, Oct. 22, 1801.
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12 BL Add. MSS 45548, f. 24: GD to Lady Melbourne, circa 1801/2.
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13 Chatsworth 1609: GD to Dr. Francis Randolph, [Dec. 25, 1801].
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14 BL Add. MSS 45548, f. 28: GD to Lady Melbourne, circa Feb./March 1802.
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15 Chatsworth 1622: GD to LS, March 8, 1802.
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16 London Chronicle, March 16–18, 1802.
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17 BL Add. MSS 45548: f. 85: Bess to Lady Melbourne, Feb. 20, 1802.
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18 A. Aspinall, Mrs Jordan and Her Family: Unpublished Correspondence of Mrs Jordan and the Duke of Clarence (London 1951), p. 50: [Sept. 3], 1802. Mrs. Jordan wrote, “I thought it proper as the Duchess of Devonshire sent to know how long I stayed to let her know that my night was fixed for Friday, on which she sent me the most civil letter, highly pleased with the attention, desiring me to keep both stage boxes, & if her name would be of any use, to say by her desire. The Duke is very unwell, but if it is possible he will come that night; if not, she will quit him on that occasion, tho’ she goes nowhere. Was not this handsome?”
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19 London Chronicle, June 5–8, 1802.
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20 Chatsworth 1750: LS to GD, Dec. 13, 1803.
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21 Lady Granville, ed., The Private Correspondence of Lord Granville Leveson Gower (London 1916), II, p. 17: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Feb. 14, [1805].
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22 Ibid., p. 351: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Aug. 23, [1802].
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23 S. Rogers, Recollections of the Table Talk of Samuel Rogers (London 1856), p. 191.
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24 Morning Herald, July 21, 1802.
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25 Chatsworth 1637: GD to LS, July 21, 1802. Sir Francis Burdett and George Byng won the contest but Burdett was later unseated on appeal in 1804.
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26 Chatsworth 1655: GD to Bess, Oct. 1802.
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27 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, I, p. 344: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, [July 1802].
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28 Carlisle MSS J18/20/95: GD to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, Feb. 7, 1803.
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29 Chatsworth 1690: GD to Bess, [Dec. 26], 1802.
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30 Chatsworth 1668: Bess to GD, Nov. 15, 1802.
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31 Mrs. Damer told Mary Berry that all the information she was passing on about France came from Georgiana, who appeared to be in contact with “everyone.” Lewis Melville, The Berry Papers (London 1914), p. 283: Mrs. Damer to Mary Berry, June 12, 1803.
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32 BL Add. MSS 47569, f. 111: Charles Fox to William Smith, circa 1801.
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33 Mabel, Countess of Airlie, In Whig Society (London 1921), p. 59: GD to Lady Melbourne, Nov. 24, 1802.
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34 Chatsworth 1707: Bess to GD, Jan. 16, 1803.
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35 A. D. Harvey, Britain in the Early Nineteenth Century (London 1978), p. 135.
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23: THE DOYENNE OF THE WHIG PARTY
1 Sir George Leveson Gower and Iris Palmer, eds., Harry-O: The Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish (London 1940), p. 79: Lady Harriet Cavendish to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, Nov. 19, 1803.
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2 A. Aspinall and Lord Bessborough, eds., Lady Bessborough and Her Family Circle (London 1949), pp. 125–6.
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3 Chatsworth 433: Anecdotes concerning HRH the Prince of Wales, Sept. 1782.
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4 BL Add. MSS 47565, f. 224: Fox to Robert Adair, circa June 1803.
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5 BL Althorp G287: GD to second Earl Spencer, July 8, 1803.
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6 Lady Granville, ed., The Private Correspondence of Lord Granville Leveson Gower (London 1916), I, p. 427: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Aug. 17, 1803.
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7 Ibid., I, p. 437: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, [circa Oct. 1803].
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8 PRO 30/29/6/7, f. 5: GD to Fox [1803].
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9 BL Althorp G283: LS to second Earl Spencer, Sept. 15, 1803.
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10 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, I, p. 433: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Sept. 15, 1803.
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11 Morning Herald, Oct. 11, 1803.
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12 Chatsworth 1741: Fox to GD, Oct. 20, 1803.
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13 Aspinall, George, Prince of Wales, IV, n. 1862: GD to Prince of Wales, [Nov. 1803].
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14 BL Add. MSS 51454, f. 115: GD to Richard Fitzpatrick, [Jan. 1804].
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15 Chatsworth 1755: Richard Fitzpatrick to GD, Jan. 25, 1804.
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16 Chatsworth 1758: GD to LS, Feb. 27, 1804.
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17 Chatsworth 1761: GD to LS, March [13], 1804.
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18 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, I, pp. 451–2: Lady Bessbor-ough to LGLG, [March 1804].
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19 BL Add. MSS 47565, f. 125: Fox to Grey, April 18, 1804.
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20 J. J. Sack, The Grenvillites 1801–1829 (Chicago 1979), p. 79.
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24: “THE MINISTRY OF ALL THE TALENTS”
1 Carlisle MSS J18/20/96: GD to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, [Sept. 1804].
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2 Many years later Harryo wrote about “My wish of doing right and really acting up to my own ideas of what is so,” and then continued with a rare reference to her mother about her desire “to become worthy of her.” Sir George Leveson Gower and Iris Palmer, eds., Harry-O: The Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish (London 1940), p. 282: Lady Harriet Cavendish to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, [1808].
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3 Carlisle MSS J18/21/99: Lady Geor-giana Morpeth to GD, [Sept. 1804].
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4 Leveson Gower and Palmer, Harry-O, p. 108: Lady Harriet Cavendish to GD, Oct. 1804.
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5 Ibid., pp. 107–8: Lady Harriet Cavendish to GD, Oct. 1804.
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6 Chatsworth 1332: GD to fifth Duke of Devonshire, [1801].
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7 Chatsworth 1782: GD to LS, Oct
. 9, 1804.
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8 Durham Univ. Lib., Grey MSS, Box 11: GD to Grey, Nov. 10, 1804.
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9 Morning Herald, Nov. 13, 1804.
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10 BL Althorp G55: Thomas Grenville to second Earl Spencer, Nov. 13, 1804.
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11 BL Althorp G287: GD to second Earl Spencer, Nov. 21, 1804.
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12 BL Add. MSS 47565, f. 134: Fox to Grey, Dec. 17, 1804.
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13 Chatsworth 1787: Bess to GD, Nov. 1, 1804.
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14 Chatsworth 1834: Bess to GD, [1805].
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15 Chatsworth 1789: Fox to GD, Dec. 11, 1804.
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16 Lord Bessborough, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (London 1955), p. 270: Sir Robert Adair to GD, [1804].
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17 A. Aspinall, The Correspondence of George, Prince of Wales 1770–1812 (London 1964), V, n. 2287: GD to Prince of Wales, [1804].
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18 Lady Granville, ed., The Private Correspondence of Lord Granville Leveson Gower (London 1916), I, p. 472: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Nov. 1804.
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19 Vere Foster, The Two Duchesses (Bath 1974), p. 191: Lady Elizabeth Foster to Augustus Foster, Dec. 5, 1804.
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20 Chatsworth, Letters between the Prince of Wales and GD, no. 54, [1804].
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21 Carlisle MSS J18/20/96: GD to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, [Jan. 1805].
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22 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, p. 92: Lady Bessborugh to LGLG, 12 [July 1805].
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23 PRO 30/29/9/1, f. 70: Lord Boring-don to LGLG, July 10, 1805.
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24 Durham Univ. Lib., Grey MSS, Box 11: GD to Grey, Nov. 10, 1804.
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25 Chatsworth 1792: Fox to GD, Jan. 7, 1805.
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26 “Pray speak to everybody you can to come down or we shall be lost on the Slave Trade. Morpeth, Ossulston, Ld A. H., Ld H. Petty all away, Pray, pray send anybody you see,” Fox begged. Foster, The Two Duchesses, p. 263: Fox to GD, [April 31], 1805. Georgiana joked that in obeying his orders she “lost, by patriotism, the best scene of Young Roscius in Frederick.” Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, p. 34, GD to LGLG, March 1, [1805]. Young Roscius was a boy actor called William Henry West Betty, whose performances in Hamlet and Richard III at the age of thirteen enraptured London for several seasons. Pitt actually adjourned the House of Commons earlier so that members could watch the phenomenon play Hamlet. Georgiana was one of those who took up the cry on his behalf and even invited him to dinner at Devonshire House.
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27 Chatsworth 1811: GD to LS, May 30, 1805.
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28 Northumberland R. O. Creevey MSS, 324/L8/42: Mrs. Creevey to Mr. Creevey, Nov. 1805.
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29 Leveson Gower and Palmer, Harry-O: Lady Harriet Cavendish to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, Oct. 11, 1805.
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30 Chatsworth 1843: GD to Marquess of Hartington, Jan. 18–20, 1806.
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31 Chatsworth 1841: GD to Marquess of Hartington, Jan. 19, 1806.
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32 J. Ehrman, The Younger Pitt (London 1969–96), III, p. 829.
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33 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, pp. 162–3: Lady Bessbor-ough to LGLG, Jan. 23, 1806.
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34 Chatsworth 1845: GD to Marquess Hartington, Jan. 23, 1806.
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35 Ibid.
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36 Chatsworth 1853: GD to Marquess of Hartington, Feb. 7, 1806.
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37 BL Add. MSS 41856, ff. 196–205: Fox to Thomas Grenville, Jan. 1806.
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38 Chatsworth 1854: GD to Marquess of Hartington, Feb. 12, 1806.
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39 Chatsworth 1863: GD to Marquess of Hartington, Feb. 26, 1806.
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40 Carlisle MSS J18/20/95: GD to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, circa Feb. 1806.
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41 Chatsworth 1873: GD to Marquess of Hartington, March 9, 1806.
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42 Dorothy Stuart, Dearest Bess (London 1955), p. 141: March 25, 1806.
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43 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, p. 185: Fox to LGLG, March 25, 1806.
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44 Chatsworth 1887: fifth Duke of Devonshire to Selina Trimmer, March 29, 1806.
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45 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, p. 210: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Sept. 14, 1806.
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46 Ibid., II, p. 185: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, [March? 31, 1806].
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47 PRO 30/29/6/2, f. 22: Lady E. Monck to LGLG, March 31, 1806.
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48 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, p. 187: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, April 15, [1806].
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49 Carlisle MSS J18/20/96: Lady Geor-giana Morpeth, circa 1806. “Strew” and “strewed” could also be read as “shew” and “shewed;” the writing is not clear.
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EPILOGUE
1 Vere Foster, The Two Duchesses (Bath 1974), pp. 280–81: Lady Elizabeth Foster to Augustus Foster, May 18, 1806.
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2 Dorothy Stuart, Dearest Bess (London 1955), p. 142.
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3 Ibid., p. 143.
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4 Ibid., p. 144.
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5 Lord Bessborough, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (London 1955), p. 283.
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6 Foster, Two Duchesses, pp. 287–91:
Lady Elizabeth Foster to Augustus Foster, July 9, 1806.
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7 Ibid., p. 286: Lady Elizabeth Foster to Augustus Foster, July 3, 1806.
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8 BL Althorp G294: Lavinia, Lady Spencer to second Earl Spencer, rec. Sept. 12, 1806.
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9 Leslie Mitchell, Charles James Fox (Oxford 1992), p. 239.
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10 Sir George Leveson Gower and Iris Palmer, eds., Harry-O: The Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish (London 1940), p. 166; Lady Harriet Cavendish to Lady Georgiana Mor-peth, Nov. 19, 1806.
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11 Ibid., p. 170: Lady Harriet Cavendish to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, Nov. 22, 1806.
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12 Ibid., p. 166: Lady Harriet Cavendish to Lady Georgiana Morpeth, Nov. 19, 1806.
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13 Stuart, Dearest Bess, p. 149.
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14 Lord Bessborough, Georgiana, p. 283: Lady Georgiana Morpeth to Mar-quess of Hartington, Nov. 26, 1807.
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15 Lady Granville, ed., The Private Correspondence of Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, p. 230: Lady Bessborough to LGLG, Dec. 4, 1806.
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16 Hecca Sheridan claimed that she was faithful to Sheridan for seven years, but that he tortured her over his love for Harriet. She, in turn, began an affair with Grey in 1802. Mrs. Sheridan wrote Leveson Gower a long letter of self-justification in which she admitted she had been jealous of Geor-giana, but that she had not meant to reveal the truth to Harriet. It was Harriet’s remark, “that to the last moment [Georgiana] thought herself belov’d [by Grey],” that provoked Hecca. “It was said in a moment of abandon & when I was wounded too by the confession that anything had passed. The immense confide
nce [Grey] had in me was one of my greatest consolations. . . . Lady B in her first indignation asserted as strongly as she does anything now that he was in the habit of meeting her at 3rd places, that she could prove it—She now gives up that assertion excepting in one instance since his marriage many years ago, which he owns—she says ‘we all thought he lov’d her to the last, & never did I feel so much affection for him as after her death.’ In her next breath she says ‘both Lady E and myself were convinced of his intercourse with you—Lord G, are not these contradictions.
She also admits that his manner to the Dss in the last 5 years was much alter’d and that together with the above mention’d the conviction hastened her death.” PRO 30/29/6/2, f.
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63: Mrs. Sheridan to LGLG, [August 1807?].
17 Lady Granville, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, II, pp. 274–5: Lady Bessbor-ough to LGLG, August 19, [1807].
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