DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51519#0230
196
THE COUNTESS OF CHESTERFIELD.
The whole of the circumstances soon became public; the lady
was generally pitied., and none believed that her husband had any
just cause for the tyranny he had exercised on this occasion. Dor-
set, Etheredge, Rochester, and all the rhyming wits of the court,
pursued Lord Chesterfield with showers of epigrams. The famous
sarabande, which had been the first occasion of this terrible fracas,
was set by the Chevalier de Grammont to new words, bitterly
reflecting on the conduct of this “ mari loup-garou,” and soon the
whole court had them by heart; they were sung' universally, and,
(as Count Hamilton gravely adds,)“ toutes les dames les voulurent
avoir pour les apprendre h leurs enfants.”
Lady Chesterfield never again appeared at court; and learning
to whom she was really indebted for the severity exercised towards
her (the justice of which she w-as far from admitting,) she vowed
vengeance against George Hamilton, and forthwith proceeded to
execute her purpose with all the cunning of an intriguante, and
all a woman’s wit and wilfulness. She penned a long and artful
letter to Hamilton, gave him a most eloquent and heart-rending
description of her miserable state, of the melancholy prison, sur-
rounded by rocks, precipices, and morasses, in which she was
confined ; of the ruthless tyranny of her husband, now her gaoler,
and of her own repentance. She informed him that the earl was
under the necessity of leaving' home for a week, and conjured him
to seize that opportunity to visit her, and listen to her justification.
Hamilton, already devoured by regrets for her absence, and
remorse for his own share in causing it, received this insidious letter
with transport, and fell at once into the snare. He immediately
mounted his horse, and rode post down to Bretby. It was towards
the close of a severe winter, and a hard frost prevailed. He
passed a whole night under the windows of Bretby Hall, almost
congealed with cold, without receiving the least sign of recognition
or compassion. On returning to the little village inn where he wTas
which is become a proverb at court, to send a man’s wife to the Peake when she
vexes him.”-—p. 194.
THE COUNTESS OF CHESTERFIELD.
The whole of the circumstances soon became public; the lady
was generally pitied., and none believed that her husband had any
just cause for the tyranny he had exercised on this occasion. Dor-
set, Etheredge, Rochester, and all the rhyming wits of the court,
pursued Lord Chesterfield with showers of epigrams. The famous
sarabande, which had been the first occasion of this terrible fracas,
was set by the Chevalier de Grammont to new words, bitterly
reflecting on the conduct of this “ mari loup-garou,” and soon the
whole court had them by heart; they were sung' universally, and,
(as Count Hamilton gravely adds,)“ toutes les dames les voulurent
avoir pour les apprendre h leurs enfants.”
Lady Chesterfield never again appeared at court; and learning
to whom she was really indebted for the severity exercised towards
her (the justice of which she w-as far from admitting,) she vowed
vengeance against George Hamilton, and forthwith proceeded to
execute her purpose with all the cunning of an intriguante, and
all a woman’s wit and wilfulness. She penned a long and artful
letter to Hamilton, gave him a most eloquent and heart-rending
description of her miserable state, of the melancholy prison, sur-
rounded by rocks, precipices, and morasses, in which she was
confined ; of the ruthless tyranny of her husband, now her gaoler,
and of her own repentance. She informed him that the earl was
under the necessity of leaving' home for a week, and conjured him
to seize that opportunity to visit her, and listen to her justification.
Hamilton, already devoured by regrets for her absence, and
remorse for his own share in causing it, received this insidious letter
with transport, and fell at once into the snare. He immediately
mounted his horse, and rode post down to Bretby. It was towards
the close of a severe winter, and a hard frost prevailed. He
passed a whole night under the windows of Bretby Hall, almost
congealed with cold, without receiving the least sign of recognition
or compassion. On returning to the little village inn where he wTas
which is become a proverb at court, to send a man’s wife to the Peake when she
vexes him.”-—p. 194.