Oh No She Didn't! Offending the Italians

Bess had a great fondness for Italy, especially late in life when she chose it as her place of retirement.  However the same cannot be same of Italy's feelings toward Bess in 1785.  Much in the tradition of her visit to France, Bess sowed offense wherever she went.  First of all, whenever she whisked by she left the Italians gagging on her perfume.  Wearing perfume in Italy was a big no-no.  Not knowing your cross-culture etiquette could easily be societal suicide, especially for a determined social climber such as Lady Foster. So it didn't help her ambition any when she caused further offense by freely speaking her broken Italian to everyone.  I would give her points for trying the immersion method of learning a language but at the time it only came off as pompous. 

Next time Bess, try Rosetta Stone and a dab of vanilla behind the ears!

Oh No She Didn't! The Silent Treatment

The end of 1786 was a rough time for Georgiana.  In Autumn she suffered from spasms, which may of had something to do with her bad health later in life.  Lady Spencer arrived to nurse her daughter and Bess took it upon herself to take Georgiana's place and order around the servants who raised eyebrows at her.  When Lady Spencer reported Bess' behavior Georgiana refused to believe her mother.

After Georgiana's health returned she confessed some of her debts to her husband who flew into a rage (I would be upset too if I found out my spouse had the modern equivalent of a $6 million gambling debt) and screamed for a separation. Georgiana was reasonably upset and turned to her best friend for support.

For whatever reason, though, Bess gave Georgiana no shoulder to cry on.  In fact she refused to talk to her altogether!

Oh No She Didn't! Poor Bess

Bess, being Georgiana's confidant, was very well aware of the Duchess' mounting debts. By the time Georgiana successfully delivered a healthy child, Bess was living in Turin, Italy. She was both jealous and fearful that this child would bring husband and wife closer together and she would soon be forgotten. At the time Bess was being supported by the Devonshires, but strangely enough would find herself running out of money. Is Turin a pricey place? Either way, her letters to Georgiana begged for money and contained a lot of 'I owe ya one!' which was slightly suspicious because she used to only reluctantly accept gifts of money. Georgiana's letters to Bess talk of how she would of course give Bess the money she needed, and then would consist of her thinking out-loud (via letter) about how she would manage to sneak the money to Bess with all the debts she was already worrying about. Not only was Bess well-aware of Georgiana's debts, she was not in need of extra money. She threw what money Georgiana spared to her in the bank. So much for IOUs.

Oh no she DIDN'T! Bess on Marie Antoinette and Polignac

After sensing some hostility from the court of France, Bess writes to Georgiana and blames this on jealousy of their friendship:

"If the Queen were Jealous of me I...will do all that is for your care & comfort...& shall give Madame P[olignac] no cause for jealousy. I will try to gain her friendship, & shall ever do all I can to prove to you mine."

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....