Other Women by Fiona McDonald Page B

was indisposed in this way Bess took it upon herself to take over the role of mistress of the house (as well as mistress of the master).
    Finally, and perhaps in order to put an end to her emotional suffering, Georgiana told her husband about the debts she owed to Martindale. She did not tell him about the other debts she had accrued. Although she expected her husband to be furious with her, she did not expect his violent declaration that he wished to be separated from her. The duchess, and her family, were devastated.
    Bess, Georgiana’s bosom companion, did not rush to her side to support her in her dire distress. Perhaps she wondered whether Georgiana’s removal from her husband’s side might benefit her own agenda. Would she be able to step into Georgiana’s shoes, to run the household and have the duke to herself? The big hitch in this plan was that the duke still wanted a legitimate heir and in order to do that he needed to maintain his marriage to Georgiana and, of course, access to her bed.
    Bess realised that to be the duke’s mistress, publicly acknowledged, was probably not the course she wanted things to take. It would mean she would become a social pariah and, although she might have the duke, she would not have the parties and social status that she loved and craved. Bess decided she would wait.
    In the end, nothing happened. Georgiana stayed as head of her own house and continued to sleep with the duke, as her position demanded. The duke, in what seems to be absolutely characteristic of his natural apathy, let the matter drop, almost as if he had forgotten about it or had tired of it. He appeared to enjoy domestic comfort and for that to happen he had to have both his wife and his mistress – and the two women were expected to get along and be happy. For her part Georgiana genuinely loved Bess and relied on her for companionship and to help her communicate with her husband. Bess, although not happy in sharing her lover, did appreciate the friendship of the duchess and the society into which such a friendship led her.
    A plan was made to help Georgiana get out of debt (although only for the amount she had confessed to); limits were put on her allowance and the time she could spend in London, in order to limit further damage being made at the gaming tables.
    In 1788 Bess conceived another child. She declared it was the Duke of Devonshire’s but there has always been some doubt, because at the time the Duke of Richmond was making unmistakable advances in her direction. It is thought that Bess may have been stringing him along as well. Bess told Georgiana about the pregnancy, not hiding it and suffering as she had done before. The time had long passed since the two women pretended they didn’t know what was happening between each of them and the duke. Georgiana wanted to go with Bess to France to be with her during the confinement. However, Lady Spencer intervened, hinting to her daughter that she was worried that if she was alone in France she may well be tempted to fall in with the Duke of Dorset (with whom she had already had a dalliance) who resided there. Thus Georgiana stayed at home and played the dutiful wife. Bess had her baby, a boy whom she named appropriately so that his paternity was suggested without being overtly stated, Augustus William James Clifford. The second and last names, both being Cavendish names, hinted at the boy’s father.
    During Bess’s trip away something happened to Georgiana: a young man called Charles Grey fell madly in love with her and she with him. Whether anything came of it at this point, other than a flattering flirtation, is uncertain. However, something certainly happened later on …
    A year after the birth of little Augustus William, the happy trio of Georgiana, the duke and Bess set out for France. The duke wanted to take health treatment at Spa, Georgiana was hoping it would help her to conceive a baby boy and Bess wanted to see her two youngest children. It