Читать книгу The Duchess - Amanda Foreman - Страница 14

Her Grace the Duchess of Devonshire has determined not to appear in public till after her lying-in; as she had long been leader of the fashion, we hope the ladies will follow her example, and get into the straw as fast as possible.

Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, 8 February 1783

ONCE BESS had set sail on the packet to France, enriched with money, new clothes and a letter of introduction to the Polignacs, Georgiana was free to resume her former activities. Her long absence from London during 1782 had reduced her to the role of spectator of most of the developments affecting the Whigs. Defying reports by the Morning Herald and other newspapers that she would withdraw from public life until the end of her pregnancy, Georgiana now re-established herself as Fox’s ally and political confidante. He frequently stopped by Devonshire House to discuss his worries. The strain he was under showed in his bloodshot eyes and in the weight he had put on since the previous summer. ‘He says ev’ry body is grown fat even Mr Hare,’ Georgiana replied to her mother’s enquiry; ‘and that the people who are said to be thin are only call’d so because they have not increas’d with the rest of the world.’¹

The Rockingham – Shelburne Coalition had been in trouble from the beginning. George III would only talk to Lord Shelburne and pointedly ignored all the Whigs’ requests for patronage. As early as June 1782 some Whigs were already condemning the Coalition as unworkable. Then Lord Rockingham came down with the flu; within two weeks he was dead. He had been in office for just three months, after almost two decades in opposition. The Duke of Portland took over as the official head of the party, while Fox remained the heir apparent. Rockingham’s death further exposed the deep fissures in the cabinet between his supporters and those of Lord Shelburne. Fox had been on the point of resigning his post as Foreign Secretary when Rockingham died. On 4 July he surrendered his seal of office. Lord John Cavendish, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer, followed – along with most of the Whigs. But many thought that Fox was wrong to give up so quickly. It took a nine-hour meeting at Lord Fitzwilliam’s before he was able to persuade his supporters that he had not made a terrible mistake.