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INTRIGUES WITH

ter of any man or woman into suspicion, for he was a spendthrift, a gambler, and a debauchee.

In 1778, an affair happened which occasioned much noise in the upper circles of life, and brought the subject of this narrative before the public, in a manner that excited more than common indignation. The late Duke of Leeds, then Marquess of Carmarthen, married in 1773, Amelia, the only daughter of the Earl of Holdernesse, and never to appearance was there a happier couple. Two or three years after the marriage, the marquess was taken with a violent fever at Bath, when such was the anxiety of his lady, that she watched by him herself, both day and night, with an assiduity of attention that brought her own life in danger. The Marquess was not insensible to this proof of affection, which he endeavoured to repay, after his recovery, by a correspondent concern for the happiness of one who had shown so much regard for him, in the hour of danger.

They lived together after this in the utmost harmony; and any insinuation reflecting upon the fidelity

MARCHIONESS OF CARMARTHEN.

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of the lady, would have drawn from her lord the keenest expressions of insulted honour. Yet while the Marquess was thus wrapped up in the fullest confidence of his partner's virtue, those around them saw a strange alteration in the deportment of her ladyship. Her intimacy with Jack Byron excited surprise, in all who knew the profligacy of his character; and as he took no pains to keep his conquest a secret, the illicit connexion was soon hinted abroad. The Marquess could not avoid hearing of the reports that were in circulation; but such was his opinion of his wife's affection for him, manifested so strongly in his late illness; so fully was he persuaded of the innate purity of her mind, fortified by the principles of religion, and the noble example of her parents, that he treated the rumours which were spread about, as the malignant effusions of envy, contrived by wicked minds to destroy his felicity. But this incredulity on the part of the husband, and his unabated kindness amidst the talk which his consort's behaviour had produced, facilitated a complete detection, by throwing the criminal parties off their guard. One day when the Marquess was in the country, her ladyship delivered a letter to her footman to carry to Captain

Byron. This epistle she had the imprudence to seal with a wafer, which was still wet; so that the trusty Hermes had no trouble in reading the contents. Finding that the billet contained an appointment, the man, instead of conveying it to the place of destination, carried it to Lord Holdernesse, whose agitation was so great on this shocking discovery, that he made it known to the Countess. Lady Holdernesse immediately repaired to her daughter, whom she taxed with her infidelity, which she as resolutely denied, till the fatal letter was produced, and then she fell into a fit. A scene followed that no language can describe; but upon promises of repentance, the matter was hushed up, the servant who made the discovery was silenced, and the Marquess for that time had no intimation of his dishonour; yet it was impossible that he could be kept altogether ignorant of a conduct which was the subject of general remark. Though, therefore, he could not believe what the world roundly asserted, he now deemed it prudent to remain in the country, and to set a watch upon the movements of the Marchioness. Two gentlemen of tried honour and friendship were employed upon this delicate service; and they were not long engaged on

the post of observation, till they brought the guilt of her ladyship to the test of evidence. At this time, Byron was in the country; and having, as was usual with him, pressing occasion for a sum of money, he wrote to the Marchioness for a supply.

She immediately despatched to him a packet, containing notes to the amount of one hundred pounds, which fell into the hands of the two spies, who had now an unequivocal demonstration of her ladyship's infidelity, for the letter contained the most ardent expressions of affection, and a pressing entreaty that her paramour would hasten to town, to take advantage of the absence of the Marquess. The Captain did indeed hurry up to London, not, however, in consequence of the invitation, but because he had received no answer to his letter-the interception of which was a thunderbolt to both; for, it afforded a certain proof, that their guilt was now made known to him, whom they had so grossly injured. In this dilemma, they came to the resolution of repairing to the Continent; and with that view, her Ladyship wrote to the Marquess, for leave to draw money from his banker. To this request she received no answer, which only served

to hasten the determination of elopement; and they accordingly set off for Dover in a chaise and four: but just as they were about to enter the packet, the two friends of the Marquess arrived, and brought the Lady back to London, whither she was followed, at a respectful distance, by her disappointed lover. Soon after their arrival in town, her Ladyship again found means to escape; and as nothing more could be done to hide the shame, legal proceedings were adopted, the consequence of which was, a separation a mensa et thoro; and next, an act of parliament followed, by which the marriage of the Marquess of Carmarthen and Amelia D'Arcy was dissolved. This was in May, 1779, and soon after, as the only means that could be devised to patch up a broken reputation, the friends on both sides interposed to bring about a marriage between her Ladyship and Captain Byron, which was effected; but it turned out unhappily, for the season of pleasure was over, and the dregs of illicit love were become gall and wormwood. The mind of the new husband was vitiated, and his manners were brutal; he had no relish for rational amusement, or for the comforts of domestic life; and, therefore, it can excite no wonder, that within two years the