The Ladles' Magazine.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2116, 15 February 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Ladles' Magazine.

ROMANTIC STORIES OF FAMOUS FAMILIES.

A WIDOW WHO MARRIED THE HANDSOAIEST MAX IN ENGLAND. GEORGE IV. AND AIRS FIT - HEKBEKT. "rho we a wont'*a who needed untiling but. a diadem to make her a Queen." Such was ihe verdict pa.'uc<l on Airs Hi,t:ili<'iuoit in the days, of her radiant and almost poorle: ’> I »e];ne-s, ];ne-s, wllmn coronets were v linlv laid at. her feet and when the heir to the .throne of England was "passing days and nigjiiti'. in tears” hera me slito turned a dent ear to his b!atuh.iitr.ei: t.s. DO WEIR KID WITH R A KE BEAUTV. The gtai'di!.-.ughar of Sir John Sun-the, of !vhe Hall. Durham, member o; one cl. he ohle-t Rair.. .lll Catholic families in the North of England, vhieih had a!”'d itsr'.l with many of

the most iliti:.tr:ou.s houses in ilae land, the girl who was denl.ncd. to flier ti.i’iow, to become the wife of a King, was dowered from her birth with a rare beauty ; and long before she emerged from the seclusion ol her home life was known through all Hie country-side tvs "'the beautilnl .Miss Smythe.” "Her abundant hair, wo are told, “was of a pale gold, hot eyes ha 7. el brown, her complexion that of the wild rose and the hawthorn. her features exquisitely chiselled. her figure full of graceMidie to these phyical perfections were added a sunny disposition, a vivacious and unaffected nil inner, and an indefinable charm which clung to her through life. TO VEILS BY THE SCORE. That a girl of such incomparable fascination should have lovers by the score goes without saying. At eighteen she became the bride of Air Edward Weld, of Lulworlh Castle, Dorsetshire, a wealthy squire old enough to be her Hither, who, wiiit’hin a year, left her a widow. Three years biter. after refusing many suitors, she married Air Thomas Eitalierbert, a man of lineage and many acres; and at twenty-five found herself a widow lor the second time, with a jointure of £2OOO a- year. THE RAGE OF LONDON. For two years she retired to the Continent-, until, urged by her friends to (jiiiit her seclusion, rihe returned to London to dazzle the would once more by her beauty, and to repinne, in spite of hersriff, her career of conquest. “A new constellation,” says the '‘Morning Herald” of July 2i. 1781, “has .lately amide an appearance in flic fashionable hemisphere, tiliiut engages the attention of those whose heaTf« .are susceptible ,fco 'the power of. heaiifyr'The' widow of the Mr F— h—t has in her train half our young nobility ; ns the lady has not, as yc.t, discovered a partiality for any of her admirers, they are all animated iwith Ihone of succc-ss.” SHE CHARMS GEORGE-, PRINCE OF WALES.

Still young—she was only twentyseven —and 'in the full perfection of her charms, the “beautiful widow” soon had the world of rank and ifiadh--100 at. her feet; and among the moot ardent lot her admirers was none other than George, Prince of -Wales, thhe handsomest mr.n in England, and by common consent the “first gentleman in Europe.” Never was there a (more ideal “Prince Charming” than this Iheir to the throne. “Lie was tall and finelyformed, .he .had a handsome and manly countenance, his leg—legs were much esteemed in the eighteenth century—was the envy of itlh-e 'bo tux, Lis smile the desire of all the belles,'and his bow the most -pni.ncelly bow in Europe.” -These physical qualities were enhanced by sumptuous raiment; lie spent £IO,OOO a year on his clothes, and iat bis first appearance at a court ball, we learn, “hi;-; cent v.us of pink silk with, white cuffs; his waistcoat, white silk, embroidered with various-colored foil, -and adorned with a profusion of French paste; while Ids bat was ornamented with 5000 beads!” THE FIRiST GENTLEMAN IN E[TROPE IN LOVE. SiiiCih was the Ihandsoine, -dazzling,

iligli-pikiecd lover who lost his heart at the first sight of the fair widow t,he moment lire met her—some say on UVii^rtlio" Tika-mes. at ilti.chmorul; others, in Lady Soft on’s box at the opera. Wherever it was that chance threw them together, the susceptible .Prince then barely twentyone, and six ycurs Jier junior—fell an immediate and hopeless victim to the charms of the “lovely Fituherbent.” Ho always vowed, and no doubt (juite truly, that he fell in love with the handsome young widow at first sight; and 'when he made her acquaintance his passion increased by leaps mid bounds, .In vain, however he protested his devotion; eilie dedincd to treat his advances and lAamlmhrncnts seriously, regarding them as nothing more than the amusement of the passing hour, to be forgotten on the morrow. When, to escape the Prince's importunity, sho retired to her villa ui .11 id'mnoiul, ho followed her there and contrived to .soend hours daily in hew society. ALL HIS ENTREATIES WERE IN VAIN. -But still, we are told, “she resistwith the utmost anxiety mid firmthe flatter'iig acs-idiiitios of tho Ayjoot accompli nil eel Prince of his age. was well aware of the gulf that yawVp’d beneath those flattering demonstrations of Royal adulation. Her coldness, however, only solved to fan the flame of his passion. He declared he could not and would nut live without her. lie spent sleepless mul tearful nights —“night:-, ol violent and unrestrained emotion" —until his friends grew alarmed for his sanity. 111-regulated and excitable, this opposition to his wishes goaded him to attacks of frenzy, .until his friends, rendered d.cvpcrate and worn out l>y the intolerable strain, decided to arrange some kind of mock marriage which would deceive the lady and leave the Prince free. ON THE VERGE OF AIAP'NEriS. The crisis came when Airs Fitzherberfc, worn out bv the Prince's 'importunities, and fearing .a tragedy, announced her ii tention of going abroad. This crushing clinics to has hopes drove Ivm -) the verge of imadness. One morning, in November. 1784, ia coach was driven furiously up to the door of Airs -Fitzhenbert’s. house in Park Street; fronr it four members of the Prince’s suit entered the house and informed her, in tones of great agitation, “that the life of

t!ir I’rinrc was in immiiiieu-l danger—(hat lie had liiui.-e.'.f- and 1 1 1 only her in nedi.ite presi-mv v.-.mld cave him. Sim -rc.-Uled iu the iu;i ji.-reumlory nrimier all lilieir iiup-.ii’t unit ie <. >”iyim!. .1.1:.-it noHdiig •'.i.eahl induce her lo enter G niton I luiim».“ A iSCENE AT CARLTON HOUSE. '|'!is' I deading of the clfieiiN, however, at last overcame her ohjeol'on;, and she consented to .accompany tlu in. w ith the Dmhess o'.' Devon,ire as ifliaperon. Arriveil 'at Carlton House .-.he found the Prince, ••pi;le and covereil with blond whie-li issued from i wound iu hi- side, which, ibis friends assured her. Iliad been self-indicted h.v the Prince in consequence of flier cruelty.” Accoialing to one account, .the Prince ’-had fallen upon ibis s.wo’tl; to another, he had istc.hihed himself with a dagger; to -a third, ihe .had tried .to shoot himself with a pinto-!, >and wflten that fail--1 ed haul i.'ungrtl n 'table-knife into lib ( side. I AIRS ITT/HFRBERT'S “.MOCK ALAIMUAGE.”

Whatever was the truth of the matter. the sight of her lover, pale and covered wi’.th blood, so overcame AI rs Fitzhorbert that “she was deprived almost of consciousness." The Prince, encouraged by flier c.motion. vowail that “nothing would induce him to live unless she prompt'd to become ,his wife and permitted him to put a ring round her linger." Completely unstrung, and swayed both, hv love and fear, one consented; Mild 'forthwith the ceremony wins .proceeded with, the Prince,now miraculously recovered from his wound, placing on Airs Fitzhorbert’s linger a ring borrowed from the Duchess of Devonshire.; -while a deposition was drawn up. signed f.nd seal d by each of ithe mirtv. HER FLIGHT AND THE PRINCE’S RAGE. It was only after she had ’reached .home and wMs able to review calmly the wi’iale of the incidents that sue realised how she had been the victim of a despicable trick, and that the so-called marriage which had been imposed on flier was a mock ceremony, w illicit could 111 avo no binding effect; and in her iuvt indignation she wrote to Lord Soutkmnpton denouncing him and his colleagues. The next morning she lied from England to the Continent.

When the Prince .heard ol flier flight his rage ami emotion were unbounded, and flie swore that lie would follow her to the ends of the oanth. “Airs Fox," wrote Lord Holland, “has -repeatedly assured- me that lie came down thither (to Cherlsev) more than once to talk with flier and AH' Fox on the subject, that die cried by the hour, that he testified to the wince nity and violence of his passion and his despair by the most extravagant expressions and actions —rolling on the float - , striking his forehead, tearing iliis hair, falling into hysterics, and swearing that lie would abandon the country, forego -the crown and all hk jewels and plate, and scrape together a competence to fly wiifili -the object of his affections to America.”

A ROYAL AND VEHEMENT LOVER.

But, as iheir-.ippareut, lie could not even leave England without tho King’s consent; and this this fa tiller point-,blank refused to give. Foiled in his .attempt to follow Alr.s Fitzherbert, he set himself to discover her hiding-place. He sent emissaries in all directions over .the Continent in search of her, and when she was at last discovered ihe wrote toiler “pages and pages of .Utissionate pleadings, of 'heartrending appeals, of prayers for her aid, of threats of self-destruction if she remained obdurate—of everything, in short, that could touch or move the 'heart of a susceptible woman.” One of tihese letters actually covered thirty-seven closely-written pages.

CONSENTS TO BECOME HI'S AYIFE.

Is it any wonder tbit, little iby little, the builwarks of Airs. Fitzherbert’s resolution, were broken down by the assaults of such an impetuous and desperate lover? iSflie began to •hesitate; she went so far as to promise that “she would at least, never marry any other person”; ami 'having made this concession to Jiis importunity, it was but a short step to an unqualified consent. Assured by the Prince that “his father would connive at their union,” she finally promised to return to England and become 'his wife.

In the first week of December, 1785. after a year’s exile, she returned to her house in Park-street, and immediate steps were taken' by tho delighted Prince for the marriage. It is significant that, at the very time these preparations were on foot, the Prince should write to Fox, denying the rumor of his intended marriage. “Believe une,” he wrote, “.the world will soon lie convinced that there not only is not, but never was, any ground for these reports w.li,ieh have been so malevolently circulated.” MARRIED IN PARK LANE. On December Id the ceremony was duly performed, at 0 o’clock in the evening, at Airs. Fitzherbcrt's house in Park-street, Park Lane, by the Rev. Robert Bind, a young eurfite, who had been induced to run the risk of olliciating by .a fee of .CdOO and the promise of future preferment. The Prince came on foot from Carl tor. House after dusk, attended only by Air. Orlando Bridgman, who remained on gnar l outside the draw-ing-room door during the ceremony; Ali-s. Fitzherbert’s uncle, Henry Erlington, give lvs niece away, and be and her brother, Jack Smytlie, acted as witnesses. And thus, secretly .and fearfully. Prince George of Wales and Afaria Fitzberbert knelt side by side, ami r< c oated tho vows that made them man and wife. THE UNION DENIED IN PARLIAMENT. There is little space left, to tell the stiange story of this union so romantic i!!v brought about. For ASiria Picz’.’.erbert it was a life of unswerving and pathetic devotion, of slights •and insults patiently borne and always forgiven, and of brief periods of oeace and almost of happiness when her vacillating husband, whom sho truly loved to the last, returned penitent to her side. Almost before the honeymoon had waned. Fox, at the Prince's instigat:oii, hotly and emphatically denied the marriage -in the House of Commons; and again, a few years later, Grey similarly played the role of Judas in Parliament at the bidding of

the cow a idly husband. INOI contentwith (this shameless -public disavowal of the woman who had placed her honor in his Royal hands, .he heaped slights on her, openly Haunting his preference for such “lights el love as 1,-uly Jersey and Lady Hertford, mid .reeking nothing of >t.he stabs die was inllict ing on the 'heart which beat on!v for him. “THE WIFE OF MY HEART AND SOUL. Subsequently he not only returned to his .long-stiffening wife for eomil'ort and pardon (too readily given) but made a will bequeathing all his -worldly property to “my Alania, Fitziherberf. niv wife, the wife of my heart and soul —still such she is in Ihe eyes of Heaven, wits, is, atul ever will he such in mine.”

Alter fifteen years of treachery and vacillation the Prince, who had meanwhile married, atul deserted Caroline of .Brunswick, formally -returned to Airs. Fitzhorbert., who received him witdi open arms; and tor eight years site knew at least something of happiness. Then followed Fiuothex period of desertion and misery, wh.ioli closed in the final breach when the Prince 'beenme Uo^eiit. BURIED WITH' HER PJOTUtRE LYING UPON HRs HEART. ' A short time before the death of George IY. we read that, on receiving a respectful letter from Ill's wile, “he seized it with eagerness, read it with emotion, ami .placed it under his pillow —ami then apparently forgot all about it" ; tints evincing to the last t-he capriciousness and he-nrtless-ness which haul marred his and so many other lives. And yet, in spite of all his long neglect and cruelty, he seems to have retained to the end -a sentimental affection for the woman ho had <used & v ill; for. by 'his own request, lie. was laid to rest “with the picture of my beloved w.ife. Alarm Fitzhorbert, suspended round my neck with a ribbon, as 1 used to wear it when I Jived and placed right upon any heart. Mrs. Fitzhe-rbert survived her husband seven years, itflie close of her long and troubled life being brightened by the sympathy and kindness of AVilUam IV. and other meniSors of the Royal Family.