DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61291#0074
52 GAINSBOROUGH
consulted, to a Mr. Long, a man sixty years
old who had a large fortune, and she seems to
have submitted quietly enough. Before the
sacrifice was consummated, however, she fell in
love with Richard Sheridan; and, although the
wedding clothes were made and the settlements
drawn up, her fiance released her, much to the
indignation of Dr. Linley, who even threatened
Mr. Long with an action for breach of promise.
Finally Eliza ran away with Sheridan, to whom
she was married at a little village near Calais.
Strange to say, when her father pursued her
she said nothing about being married, but re-
turned with him to Bath to work out her ap-
prenticeship, and it was not until she suddenly
heard the news that Sheridan had been wounded
in a duel with a rejected suitor of hers that she
let out the secret by crying out, “ My husband !
My husband! ” Even then Sheridan did not
claim his bride, and he allowed her to appear
in the Oratorio in Drury Lane in 1772, when
she won great applause. He seems, in fact, to
have fallen in love with her afresh on that
occasion. The two were publicly married, and
settled down to a life of struggle in London;
for Sheridan was still only a poor student of law,
and he would never allow his wife to sing in
consulted, to a Mr. Long, a man sixty years
old who had a large fortune, and she seems to
have submitted quietly enough. Before the
sacrifice was consummated, however, she fell in
love with Richard Sheridan; and, although the
wedding clothes were made and the settlements
drawn up, her fiance released her, much to the
indignation of Dr. Linley, who even threatened
Mr. Long with an action for breach of promise.
Finally Eliza ran away with Sheridan, to whom
she was married at a little village near Calais.
Strange to say, when her father pursued her
she said nothing about being married, but re-
turned with him to Bath to work out her ap-
prenticeship, and it was not until she suddenly
heard the news that Sheridan had been wounded
in a duel with a rejected suitor of hers that she
let out the secret by crying out, “ My husband !
My husband! ” Even then Sheridan did not
claim his bride, and he allowed her to appear
in the Oratorio in Drury Lane in 1772, when
she won great applause. He seems, in fact, to
have fallen in love with her afresh on that
occasion. The two were publicly married, and
settled down to a life of struggle in London;
for Sheridan was still only a poor student of law,
and he would never allow his wife to sing in