NAPLES, 1823
Captain Bligh was in a terrible state. When he wasn’t consumed with anger, he was overcome with misery, often breaking down in floods of tears. After his wife abandoned him, it took Captain Bligh less than two weeks to gather a strong body of evidence against her, including sworn testimonials from witnesses and servants. Distressed by all he discovered, he wrote to Helena, ‘It can leave no longer any possible doubt of your criminality, of which it seems you did not hesitate to make even my house the theatre.’1
Helena remained stubbornly unrepentant. Confounded as to why Catherine would harbour her husband’s mistress, Captain Bligh decided that she needed to be made aware of the facts. He wrote to Catherine, ‘I have every reason to believe Mrs Bligh had been carrying on an intrigue for some time previous to her elopement from my house with Mr Long Wellesley, I therefore can now only look upon her as his mistress.’2
Offering to provide proof of the affair, Bligh suggested he call on Catherine. A more curious woman may well have permitted herself a quick look at the evidence uncovered. Catherine was an intelligent woman, but she was also very trusting, always ready to think the best of the man she loved. As far as she was concerned, William was merely doing his family duty to protect his cousin. Aside from this, she firmly believed that Bligh was a dangerous madman: violent, abusive and wildly deluded. Wanting nothing to do with him, Catherine’s reply was brief but firm: ‘I beg to state that I am by no means “acting in the dark”. The line of conduct I think proper to pursue towards Mrs Bligh is founded upon my firm conviction of her innocence.’3
With hopes dashed of acquiring an ally in Catherine, Captain Bligh tried a different approach. He went on the rampage, sending threatening letters to William and issuing several challenges. It was an age when men sometimes duelled to defend their honour, but eleven years had passed since William’s infamous gunfight with Lord Kilworth and he now held his own mortality in greater esteem. Deftly refusing Bligh’s challenges on the grounds that he was innocent of all charges, William stated that fighting in a duel would be construed as ‘a confirmation of the malicious reports’.4 On another occasion, William declared arrogantly that if he were ever convicted of criminal intercourse in court ‘it would be time enough to fight, but till I am declared guilty I shall be presumed innocent’.5
Hell-bent on revenge, Captain Bligh and his brother took to following William’s carriage with loaded pistols in their pockets, with the cuckold proclaiming, ‘if I cannot have satisfaction in one way, I will in another’.6
Captain Bligh’s reaction merely reinforced Catherine’s opinion that he was a madman. As she often travelled in the same carriage as William, she was terrified that someone would in due course be shot and killed. Eventually she went to the police and asked them to place Captain Bligh under arrest. The police informed her that they would have to investigate the matter and, in the meantime, all parties involved would have to be taken into custody. Captain Bligh, Edward Bligh and William were imprisoned. While the brothers paced their cells like caged animals, raging furiously at their captors, William made the best of the situation by bribing the guards handsomely to provide him with a feast washed down with fine wine.
Catherine and Helena were placed under house arrest for their own protection. Catherine felt thoroughly humiliated, particularly when she was forced to send an appeal to Hamilton at the British embassy. The ambassador visited her the next day and arranged for all parties to be liberated, with William and Bligh bound over to keep the peace. Captain Bligh’s excessive behaviour made Catherine even more convinced that Helena had been telling the truth about his violence and abuse, particularly when the spell in prison did not deter his pursuit of William.
William gave Catherine no cause for concern, treating her with affection and indulgence while not paying any undue attention to Helena. Once his wife was safely tucked up in bed, however, he locked his bedroom door, sneaked out of the house and strolled down the road to his mistress. It was a dangerous game to play, but the prospect of getting caught made it even more thrilling. On the odd night that William visited Catherine in her bedchamber, Helena was jealous and petulant until William soothed her with empty promises.
Skilfully juggling his women, William somehow managed to keep them both happy. In many respects the ladies in his life were very different. Passionate, demanding and unpredictable, Helena could explode in a jealous rage at any time. After a night with her, William was often relieved to be going home to his gentle, accommodating wife. Despite these contrasts, they did have one thing in common – they were both hopelessly in love with the same man.
Hunted by Captain Bligh, dogged by Mrs Bligh and involved in a legal dispute with the British ambassador, William was desperate to escape Naples. Unaware of the looming scandal, Lord Maryborough had written from England on 1 August 1823 with wonderful news concerning William’s finances. Bursting with enthusiasm, William’s father proclaimed:
You may return at the end of three years with all your debts paid or secured – with all your conditions satisfied; with the Wardenship of the Forest restored to you and your family, with Mrs Wellesley’s diamonds saved, with your farms on all your estates in perfect repair, and the future outgoings for repairs regulated upon an economical and certain footing, without an arrear due to any person whatever, and a clear income of £13,000 a year!7
This was a remarkable achievement; Lord Maryborough had worked tirelessly to resolve his son’s affairs. Utilizing his considerable experience in managing estates, Maryborough increased productivity and profitability in Wiltshire, Essex and Hampshire by finding prosperous new tenants, introducing new farming methods and restocking farms. As a result, business was thriving and William should have been delighted with the outcome. He would be able to move back to England and live in style at Draycot House, with a handsome income of £23,500 a year inclusive of his wife’s pin money.
Nevertheless, William was not happy because he could not bear the prospect of living in exile for another three years. Thoroughly fed up with the untenable situation he had created for himself in Naples, he wanted to return to England immediately. From his perspective, his estates were now reaping sizeable profits so he did not see any reason why he should remain abroad – or even bother to repay his creditors. All he needed was parliamentary privilege to protect himself from prosecution for debts, and then he could take up residence at Draycot House and resume his former lifestyle. Rather than being grateful to his trustees for their enormous efforts, William had grown resentful and impatient with them. Irritated that nobody had managed to procure a seat in Parliament for him, he suggested that his trustees were not doing enough. He wrote to his father, ‘I should conceive there could be little difficulty without fear, for a few hundred pounds, of purchasing me a seat in Parliament, before I return . . . it can be hardly necessary to [refuse] my resolution.’8
In an ungrateful letter filled with subtle recriminations, William went on to imply that he could have done a much better job of managing his affairs himself. Finishing on a note of self-pity, he lamented, ‘My friends and acquaintances in England act as if I was dead.’9
William had benefited greatly from Lady Catherine’s death, particularly as Draycot House had now passed to Catherine. Sir James Tylney Long had undertaken extensive remodelling, transforming his ancestral home into a stately mansion with an elegant Georgian facade of fourteen bays, plus wings to the east and west elevations.10 The house stood on a sizeable estate of 4,000 acres, which meant that William could quite easily resume his role as lord of the manor. With Draycot House ready and waiting for him, he realized that he did not want to lose Catherine or the wealth and status his marriage afforded him. He resolved to dispose of his mistress, severing all ties when he quit Naples. With this in mind, William hired a carriage and made arrangements for Helena to travel to Paris, where her father had arranged to meet her. On discovering his intention, Helena became hysterical and threatened that she would ‘inform his wife that there had been criminal intercourse between them’.11
By the end of September 1823, preparations were well under way for the Long Wellesleys to leave Naples. They planned to head straight for Paris, only stopping off for a few days to visit William’s sister Priscilla, Lady Burghersh in Florence. Much to his regret, William was not able to abandon Mrs Bligh because she launched into such tirades, threatening to tell his wife about the abortion and generally ‘conducted herself with great violence’.12 Catherine reluctantly agreed that Mrs Bligh could travel with the family because she knew that Colonel Paterson was already en route to Paris to collect his daughter. Owing to this, she fully expected that Mrs Bligh would be safely returned to her own family within the month.
William and Catherine left Naples on 5 October 1823, chased away by Captain Bligh and his brother, who pursued them out of town with loaded pistols. This was not the last time they would encounter Bligh, who would resurface to inflict his revenge, but for now they had escaped relatively unscathed. On this journey the Long Wellesleys’ entourage included Dr Bulkeley, Pitman the tutor, Bicknell and Meara, who would all continue to bear witness to the unfolding melodrama. Newspapers reported with a touch of irony, ‘Mr and Mrs Long Wellesley, who were the charm of every party in Naples, have left for Paris.’13
En route to Florence, the party stopped at picturesque Albano, overlooking a volcanic lake close to Rome. Catherine decided to break their journey for a few days to explore and visit the sights in Rome. Helena was growing increasingly petulant and her presence was becoming burdensome. Keen to be rid of her, Catherine decided that it would be in everyone’s best interests for Helena to head straight for Paris as planned, especially as her father had arranged to meet her there. Catherine asked William to make all the necessary travel arrangements, and she prevailed on Dr Bulkeley to accompany Helena, so that she would not have to travel alone. When Helena heard the news over dinner she flew into such an ungovernable frenzy that Catherine had to take her upstairs and summon Bulkeley to sedate her. Left alone at the table with Pitman, William remarked, ‘I should not be surprised if Mrs Bligh in her rage shall tell my wife that there has been some intrigue between us, but I have one satisfaction, Mrs Long Wellesley will not believe it.’14 The doctor found Mrs Bligh in a state of extreme agitation.
Becoming hysterical, she threatened suicide, saying, ‘Mr Wellesley has ruined me . . . and now he wants to desert me, and I am determined I will tell his wife.’15 Helena had given up a great deal to be with William: the sanctuary of her home and marriage as well as her reputation. What she did not seem to appreciate, however, was that William had never asked her to leave her husband – in fact, he had vehemently discouraged the move. Considerable remonstration continued between Bulkeley and Helena, until the despairing woman attempted to throw herself out of the window, but she was no match for the bulky eighteen-stone doctor, who restrained her easily. Hearing the commotion, Catherine walked into the room and after a lengthy discussion managed to persuade Helena to travel on to her family without further delay.
Setting off for Paris, it was a stressful journey for the good doctor because Mrs Bligh’s conduct was ‘most violent and improper’ as she constantly baited him.16 On one occasion she told him that William had promised to catch up with her carriage in Florence, vowing ‘that they never more should part’. Remonstrating with her, Bulkeley pointed out the ruin this would cause to both William and his wife. However, Helena insisted that many men kept mistresses, mentioning one particular nobleman of high rank, saying, ‘He always kept a mistress in the house, and his wife was not a bit the less happy.’ She then proceeded to observe, ‘No woman could resist such a fine fellow as Mr Long Wellesley,’ going on to remark, ‘Mrs Long Wellesley is not fit to be the wife of such a splendid fellow.’