Oh no she DIDN'T! Bess in France...er...Naples

Oh Bess, you awful thing, you! Lady Foster will unfortunately be known in history as two-faced and slutty and this blog does little to negate that image.

In order to officially provide Bess an income, the Devonshires hired her as Charlotte Williams' governess who could take her to France for refinement. Charlotte was the Duke's first daughter, a bastard of course, but Georgiana loved her just the same. While in France, Bess complained of missing Georgiana and William dearly and bemoaned her dull life to them, but that didn't keep her out of mischief. Georgiana had set the pair up with the Polignac's, who ended up despising Bess. Growing bored and sensing the loss of welcome from her hosts, Bess abruptly uprooted to Naples with Charlotte. This was not in William's plan for his daughter's education. Not only had she moved herself and Charlotte to Naples but they moved in with with two of Bess' lovers! Georgiana was horrified when she heard! Rumors also surfaced that she was planning to run away to Turin with another lover. All of a sudden there was a different tone to her letters as Amanda Foreman states, she "...discredited the self-pitying lamentations of her previous letters - she claimed she was a favorite at the Neopolitan court...No one in Naples objected to her living arrangements; indeed, the royal family made a point in including her in all their intimate social engagements."

The great defender of Lady Foster, Caroline Chapman, downplays this whole scandal. Apparently, Bess recorded in her diary that the foursome found themselves in a cottage one night, sheltering themselves from a storm. "Bess records that Charlotte occupied the bed, while she slept on the floor and 'mes amis' on the chairs."

Guilty or not, Bess' written explanation to Georgiana was nine pages long! Just saying....