1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised, Hey, this 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: is Danish sport's host of Noble Blood. Just a few 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: quick reminders before the episode. If you want to support 5 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: the show, we have a Patreon Patreon dot com slash 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: Noble Blood Tales, where there's merch, where I upload episode 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: scripts and where I do a weekly podcast watching the 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: television show Rain, which is about Mary, Queen of Scott's. 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,520 Speaker 1: It's a lot of fun. Join us support the show there. 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: There's also links to show merch and to my books 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: in the episode description and one quick note before this episode. 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: This episode contains fairly graphic depictions of domestic violence. There 13 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: are also terminated pregnancies, so if either of those topics 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: are particularly sensitive for you, this one might be an 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: episode to skip. In April seventeen seventy six, Mary Eleanor 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: Bowse received a letter from her husband, Earl John Strathmore. 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: One month earlier, he had left their sprawling estate in 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: the Scottish countryside on a trip to Portugal, and upon 19 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: opening the letter, Mary Eleanor expected to hear good tidings, 20 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: but this letter revealed dark news. Her husband was dead. 21 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: He had died of tuberculosis, and this letter contained his 22 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: final words to his now widow. While you might be 23 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: expecting something vague or sweet, his letter instead revealed how 24 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: contentious and challenging their marriage had become. The Earl of 25 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: Strathmore wrote, quote, as this is not intended for your 26 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: perusal till I am dead, I hope you will pay 27 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: a little more attention to it than you ever did 28 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: to anything I said to you while alive. I freely 29 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: forgive you all your liberties and follies, however fatal they 30 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,119 Speaker 1: have been, to me, as being thoroughly persuaded, they were 31 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: not the produce of your own mind, but the suggestions 32 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: of some vile interested monster. Back in the early days 33 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 1: of their courtship, the Earl of Strathmore had been tall 34 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: and elegant, nicknamed quote the Beautiful Lord Strathmore, with a dignified, 35 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: if stand offish air. Meanwhile, Mary Eleanor had been just 36 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: sixteen years old and well known for being one of 37 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: the richest heiresses in the country, if not all of Europe. 38 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: She had no shortage of suitors, but the Beautiful Lord 39 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: Strathmore caught her eye. She, like many sixteen year old girls, 40 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: couldn't help but be drawn to someone so handsome and 41 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: also mysterious and aloof Her family had some reservations about 42 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: the match, since the Strathmore family had accumulated a number 43 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: of debts over the decades, which would potentially even put 44 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor's fortune in jeopardy. Still, Mary Eleanor was charmed 45 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: by the Earl of Strathmore and a little excited to 46 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: rebel against her family's expectations. She told her mother that 47 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: she would marry either the Earl of Strathmore or no 48 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: one at all. Her family reluctantly accepted, and Mary Eleanor 49 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: married him in seventeen sixty nine. But if there ever 50 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: had been a honeymoon period after the wedding, it was 51 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: over quickly. The next seven years of marriage were cold 52 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: and unromantic. The Earl of Strathmore gambled, drank, and cheated 53 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: on his wife, contracting syphilis along the way, all while 54 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor attended to their five children and their vast estate. 55 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,360 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor prided herself on her loyalty to her husband 56 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,559 Speaker 1: in spite of his dalliances, but by seventeen seventy six, 57 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,799 Speaker 1: she was fed up with it and initiated an affair 58 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: of her own. She met a man named George Gray, 59 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: who from their very first meeting paid her near constant attention, 60 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: which was a welcome far cry from her distant husband. 61 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: Though resentment mounted in the marriage and indiscretions piled up, 62 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: divorce was difficult and highly uncommon, and could have destroyed 63 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: both of their reputations, so the marriage only ended when 64 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: the Earl died at the age of thirty eight in 65 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six. But the Earl's final letter complicated Mary 66 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: Eleanor's justified feelings of freedom and relief once her husband 67 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: was gone. Even though in the letter he dismissed her 68 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,119 Speaker 1: ambitions to write as feudal and accused her of being 69 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: prejudiced against him and his family for their debts, he 70 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: said he was holding back his true feelings, writing that 71 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: he wasn't quote tempted to say an ill natured thing 72 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: for the sake of sporting a bon mow. Instead. In 73 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: his final letter, the Earl of Strathmore wanted to give 74 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: his wife some advice from beyond the grave. The Earl 75 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: cautioned Mary Eleanor to choose her next partner, wisely writing quote, 76 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: A dead man can have no interest to mislead living man. 77 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: May those words would unfortunately prove prophetic. Unlike many women 78 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: trapped in loveless marriages, Mary Eleanor had been given a 79 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: second chance at a new life relatively young, giving her 80 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: plenty of time to potentially find a new husband who 81 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: might share her interests and respect her intelligence. After all, 82 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: as the richest woman in Britain, she could pretty much 83 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: have any man she wanted. Even the reckless gambling habits 84 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: of her late husband hadn't put a dent in her 85 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,679 Speaker 1: vast coal fortune. She was the heir to somewhere between 86 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: six hundred thousand and one million, forty thousand pounds. But 87 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: money cannot save you from bad judgment, and unfortunately, as 88 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor's late husband predicted, she would ultimately be faced 89 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: with a man with every intent to mislead her. I'm 90 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: Danas Schwartz and this is noble blood. Mary Eleanor barely 91 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: set aside time to mourn her late husband before launching 92 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: into enjoying her new single life. Although her newly single 93 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: life was not quite as single as she let on, 94 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: she already had a lover, George Gray, who she had 95 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: started seeing when her husband was still very much alive. 96 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: Unlike the late Earl of Strathmore, Gray was a devoted, 97 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: attentive lover, visiting Mary Eleanor every day and sitting at 98 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: her bedside every evening. Even though she entertained his affections 99 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: and did have a sexual relationship with him, Mary Eleanor 100 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: seemed to put Gray in the eighteenth century equivalent of 101 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: the friend zone, saying that she felt nothing for him 102 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: quote that exceeded friendship. As a wealthy single woman, Mary 103 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: Eleanor was also free to pursue her intellectual interests unencumbered. 104 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor's late husband had resented her intellect and viewed 105 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: her interests as fruitless dalliances, distracting her from her true 106 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: task of tending to the household and caring for their 107 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:38,319 Speaker 1: young children. Her husband had been particularly dismissive of her 108 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: interest in botany. Mary Eleanor was one of few women 109 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: working as a botanist in Britain at the time. A 110 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: colleague described her as quote the most intelligent female botanist 111 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: of the age, and she built hothouses and gardens across 112 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: her vast estates where she cultivated exotic plants from around 113 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: the world, but the late Earl of Strathmore thought that 114 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: plant pollination was too sexually suggestive for a woman's delicate sensibilities. 115 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: After her husband's death, she supplemented her solo botanical study 116 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: by hosting salons. While Mary Eleanor was denied entry into 117 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: the all male Royal Botanical Society, she gathered the greatest 118 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: botanical minds of the day under her roof for hours 119 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: of lively discussions about the latest discoveries. But not everyone 120 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: was happy to see her living a life of freedom. 121 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: The same colleague that described Mary Eleanor as the most 122 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 1: intelligent female botanist of the age also said that quote 123 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: her judgment was weak, her prudence almost none, and her 124 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: prejudice abounded, and that she lived in a quote house 125 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: of folly. Marie Eleanor did not particularly want to get 126 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: married again. She told Gray her friend slash Lover, that 127 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: after her dismal marriage to the Earl of Strathmore, she 128 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: would never quote engage herself so indissolubly again. But even 129 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: Mary wondered if she would receive come uppance for her 130 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 1: fairly reckless, brazen affair with George Gray. She had already 131 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,559 Speaker 1: gotten pregnant by him a few times. Knowing that having 132 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: a child out of wedlock would destroy her reputation, she 133 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: had abortions which were expensive, dangerous, and unreliable. Each time 134 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: she took what she described as a quote black, inky 135 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: kind of medicine. We don't know exactly what was in it. 136 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: According to her, it looked and tasted as if it 137 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,559 Speaker 1: might have contained copper. If that didn't work, she'd add 138 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: a large glass of brandy, seasoned with a handful of 139 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: black pepper. Even though these abortions, in Mary's case, were effective, 140 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: each one seemed like a bad omen to marry her luck, 141 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: she believed would only last so long. Society could only 142 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: tolerate so much of her freedom, and soon she knew 143 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: she would have to settle down. Into this picture entered 144 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: a charming Irish soldier named Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney. He 145 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: was a known figure in the coffeehouse scene of the 146 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: late eighteenth century, living above Saint James Coffee House, a 147 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: quick walk from where Mary Eleanor lived in Grovesnor Square. 148 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 1: Stoney had a number of qualities that Mary Eleanor found attractive. 149 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: He was five foot ten, which was tall at a 150 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: time when the average height was five foot five. He 151 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: was also handsome and impeccably dressed. He owned over ninety shirts, 152 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: according to his valet, very great Gatsby. And unlike her 153 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: aloof late husband and her lover, whom she saw more 154 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:20,719 Speaker 1: as a friend, Stoney was passionate and romantic. Sometimes his gentlemanly, 155 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: well mannered temperament gave way to expressions of intoxicating, overwhelming ardor. 156 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: He wrote flowery letters, left big tips, and gave lavish gifts. Plus, 157 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor had a particular weakness for Celtic man. Stoney 158 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: was Irish, and her first husband and Gray were both Scottish. 159 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 1: Stoney sent a letter of interest in July of seventeen 160 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: seventy six, just a few months after Mary Eleanor's husband 161 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: had died. Unlike the formal address that she was used to, 162 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: he sign the letter with a simple it is for you, 163 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,079 Speaker 1: and he arrived at her doorstep to hand deliver it. 164 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: With a powerful combination of flattery and alluring informality, Stoney 165 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: wrote quote, I have taken some liberties for which your 166 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: ladyship can find no excuse unless you apply to the 167 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: powerful pleading of inclination for such freedom. I wish to 168 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: make every apology, but I cannot get the better of 169 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: a passion which has taken the intense possession of my heart. 170 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: We don't have Mary's reply, but Stoney would brag about 171 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: Mary's equally flowery letters when he was at a coffee 172 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: shop in Bath, which suggests that she responded in kind. 173 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: Two of Mary's closest friends, a woman named Elijah Planta, 174 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: and a man named Captain Magra, were both both big 175 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: fans of Stony. One day, Mary, Eliza, and Magra went 176 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: to a fortune teller to get their fortunes read. They 177 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: snuck off to a dingy building near Newgate Prison and 178 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: sat in a cold, dark waiting room for seven hours. 179 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: They passed the time making up poems together and writing 180 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: them on the wall in a lead pencil. In one 181 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: of the poems, according to historian Wendy Moore, Mary wrote 182 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: some lines denouncing matrimony. Mary also passed the time chatting 183 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: with the others in the waiting room, pretending to be 184 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: a grocer's widow with ten children named Missus Smith. When 185 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 1: finally she got to speak with the fortune teller, she 186 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: mentioned her struggle deciding on a husband, and the fortune 187 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: teller spoke highly of a tall Irish soldier. Even Magra, 188 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: a skeptic, was convinced of this fortune teller's skill. While 189 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: the stars seemed to align around her new relationship with Stony, 190 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: Mary didn't really think of him as a serious option. 191 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: She was still in a relationship with Gray, which was 192 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: getting increasingly intense. She had gotten pregnant yet again, but 193 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: this time her abortion wasn't working. Seeing that she had 194 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: no choice but to get married, Mary proposed to Gray, 195 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: which at the time was considered legally binding. They had 196 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: even exchanged rings at Saint Paul's Cathedral one night, as 197 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor promised to marry none but him. Meanwhile, Mary 198 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: Eleanor was getting smeared in the press, putting extra pressure 199 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: on her engagement. As the richest and most eligible heiress 200 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: in Britain, she was a known tabloid figure and she 201 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: was very familiar with laughing off articles her libertine lifestyle, 202 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: but her feelings were genuinely hurt when an anonymous article 203 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: signed from a conscious stinger appeared in the Morning Post 204 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: on December twelfth, seventeen seventy six. The letter accused her 205 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: of insulting her late husband's memory with her affairs, accused 206 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: her of cheating on her husband while he was still alive, 207 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: and abandoning her children. A response appeared in the next 208 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: issue defending Mary's reputation, but even that more positive letter 209 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: seemed ridiculing, even sarcastic, arguing for her quote agonizing and 210 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: heartfelt sorrow at her late husband's death, which everyone knew 211 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: was stretch. The quote unquote more complimentary letter also portrayed 212 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: her as a mercurial, guileless pam being manipulated by men 213 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: seeking to exploit her vast fortune. Throughout December and January, 214 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: these anonymous letters went back and forth, alternately condemning Mary 215 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: for being a cunning seductress and bad mother, and then 216 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: shooting down those accusations with a defense that Mary Eleanor 217 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: was merely an innocent fool. The court of public opinion 218 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: seemed to be closing in on her, a fear only 219 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:35,360 Speaker 1: exacerbated by her pregnancy. Stoney was incensed by these letters 220 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: in the newspaper. He approached the editor of the Morning Post, 221 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: Reverend Henry Bate, demanding to know who besmirched Mary. Eleanor's reputation. 222 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: Bate replied that the letters were anonymous, so he didn't 223 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: know the authors. Unsatisfied with that response, Stoney challenged Bait 224 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: to a duel to defend Mary Eleanor's honor. Stoney and 225 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 1: Bait met at Adelphi Tavern one night, which was a 226 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: bit atypical as duels were typically conducted at dawn and 227 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 1: in more private locations than bustling city taverns, but the 228 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 1: shadowy locale spoke to Stoney's sense of urgency. He wouldn't 229 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 1: even wait until the next morning to defend his beloved 230 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: Adhering to dual conduct, both men drew pistols, and Bait 231 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:38,959 Speaker 1: insisted that Stoney fire first. Stoney missed, shooting Bait's hat, 232 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: and Bait missed two, the bullet merely tearing Stoney's coat. 233 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: The men then drew swords, and in the ensuing fight, 234 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: Stoney got slashed several times all over his body. According 235 00:18:55,040 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: to a well regarded surgeon and multiple witnesses, these injuries 236 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: were life threatening. He was rushed to the hospital, blood 237 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 1: staining his clothing. The next morning, Mary Eleanor rushed to 238 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: Stoney's bedside. Stony seemingly moments from death, proclaimed that he 239 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: would only die happy if he married Mary Eleanor. Doctor 240 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: said that the wounded soldier only had a few days 241 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: left to live, so she would probably be a widow 242 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: once again anyway, and it seemed heartless to deny this 243 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: man his dying wish after he had sacrificed his life 244 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:40,080 Speaker 1: for her. So, despite the legally binding promise that she 245 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: had made to Gray, she accepted Stoney's marriage proposal, and 246 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: three days later the two were married at Saint James's Church. 247 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,879 Speaker 1: Stoney gave his vows from a makeshift bed, wincing in pain, 248 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,719 Speaker 1: but the two were happily wed. The duel was something 249 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: right out of Mary Eleanor's most romantic fantasies. Back when 250 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: she was still married to the Earl of Strathmore, she 251 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: had written a five act tragic play in which two 252 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 1: men dueled for the honor of a maiden. And if 253 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: this were a romance, perhaps the story would end here. 254 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: The widow and the gallant soldier married headed toward there 255 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:28,439 Speaker 1: happily ever after, But the story does not end here. 256 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 1: Stony recovered from his purportedly life threatening injuries, making this 257 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: hasty marriage a fact of Mary Eleanor's life Now. As 258 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: it turns out, this dashing Irish captain had some skeletons 259 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: in his closet. Nearly every aspect of their courtship, from 260 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: the fortune teller to the duel to his status in 261 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: the British Army, would turn out to be a lie. 262 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: Revelations would nearly destroy Mary Eleanor and transform their seemingly 263 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: picture perfect romance into a nightmare. Perhaps Mary Eleanor's romance 264 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:21,120 Speaker 1: with Stony felt ripped from fiction because in some ways 265 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:26,360 Speaker 1: it was the Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney that Mary Eleanor 266 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: fell in love with. Was almost a complete fabrication from 267 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: the beginning, starting with the captain part. It turned out 268 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: that Stoney was not a captain. He was barely even 269 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 1: in the British Army. In November seventeen sixty four, when 270 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: Sotny was seventeen, his uncle secured him a position as 271 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,200 Speaker 1: an ensign, the lowest rank of officer, as a favor 272 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: to Stony's father, who was looking to instill in his 273 00:21:55,840 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: son some much needed discipline. Stoney was fired the following 274 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:06,959 Speaker 1: year for flouting rules, gambling, sleeping around, and erupting in anger. 275 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: As another favor. He was allowed to rejoin the army 276 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: in seventeen sixty seven, where he was stationed in Newcastle, 277 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: but he managed to avoid ever going into battle by 278 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,440 Speaker 1: courting the affections of Hannah Newton, an heiress with a 279 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: vast coal fortune, and securing her hand in marriage. Once married, 280 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: he quit the army and spent his days gambling, shopping, 281 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: and cavorting with his various military buddies. The only commitment 282 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: he seemed to pursue with any consistency was making his 283 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: new wife, Hannah's life a living hell. While Hannah's own 284 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: voice is lost in the historical record, none of her 285 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: letters or writings survive, witnesses accounts fill in some of 286 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: the harrowing details of how Stoney treated her. Once he 287 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: locked Hannah in a cupboard in just her underwear and 288 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:14,200 Speaker 1: kept her there for three days, giving her one egg 289 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: a day for sustenance. Another account recalls him throwing her 290 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: down the stairs. His justification for his abuse was that 291 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,199 Speaker 1: Hannah had not yet given him an air, which he 292 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: needed in order to have complete control over Hannah's fortune, 293 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,160 Speaker 1: as that would legally allow him to maintain his rights 294 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: to the Newton estate through his own lifetime regardless of 295 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: what happened to Hannah, but she continued to have miscarriages 296 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: and steelborns throughout their marriage as her own health failed, 297 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: likely compounded by Stoney's abuse. She died March seventeen seventy 298 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: six during childbirth, and the baby died alongside her. After 299 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 1: Hannah's death, rumors about Stoney's violence towards his wife abounded. 300 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: A letter from a colleague in Newcastle alleged that he 301 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: had shortened her days, while an anonymous pamphlet published in 302 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy seven argued that he should be tried for murder. 303 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: Stoney had only just collected the five thousand pounds Hannah 304 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: left him in her will before he headed off to 305 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: London in search of another wealthy bride. Luckily for him, 306 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor Bows, the wealthiest woman in Britain, had recently 307 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: become a widow. It wouldn't be easy for Stoney to 308 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: win Mary Eleanor's heart. It seemed an impossible feat for 309 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:59,719 Speaker 1: an unknown soldier saddled with rumors of violence against his 310 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: firs wife, especially since Mary Eleanor was already involved with 311 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: George Gray. But those obstacles only made Stoney even more 312 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:18,159 Speaker 1: determined to seduce and destroy Mary Eleanor. After making his 313 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: way to London, Stoney's first challenge was embedding himself in 314 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor's social circle. He knew Captain Perkins Magra, one 315 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: of Mary Eleanor's closest friends, as an old pal from 316 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: the army, and Stoney recruited him as an ally in 317 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: his plot to win Mary's heart. Magra served as Stoney's 318 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: wingman through the process, picking up a dashing scarlet uniform 319 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: and frocksuit for Stoney to wear, and introducing Stoney to 320 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:57,240 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor's governess, Eliza Planta. Stoney plied Planta with flattery 321 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 1: and bribes, and she even became his lover in addition 322 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: to his spy in the Bow's household, Eliza would report 323 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: back to Stoney about Mary's vulnerabilities and interests so that 324 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: Stoney could woo her. From Eliza, Stoney learned about Mary 325 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 1: Eleanor's beloved cats and favorite daughters, both of which he 326 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: was careful to praise. In one letter, Stoney even wished 327 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: he were one of Mary Eleanor's cats so that he 328 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: could quote be stroked and caressed by her. Stony made 329 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: sure Eliza Planta and Captain Magra talked him up to 330 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:44,159 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor and dispelled any unfortunate rumors about his relationship 331 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: with his late ex wife. Stony even had the three 332 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,920 Speaker 1: of them meet with the fortune Teller, who he coached 333 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: on what to say the entire episode, the seven hour 334 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 1: wait time, Captain Magra's supposed cauvicious skepticism, the fortune teller's 335 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: premonition that a tall Irish soldier would be the right 336 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 1: match was all orchestrated by Stoney, But even that hadn't 337 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: been enough to win Mary Eleanor's hand in marriage. She 338 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: still considered him a dalliance from her real affair with 339 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: George Gray, so Stoney played dirty. He approached an old friend, 340 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,479 Speaker 1: Reverend Henry Bate, editor of The Morning Post and fellow 341 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: army veteran, and they created an elaborate plot to win 342 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:43,959 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor's heart. In exchange for a hefty bribe, Bates 343 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: agreed to help craft and then publish anonymous letters admonishing 344 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor for her crimes, as well as the ones 345 00:27:53,960 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 1: supposedly quote defending her reputation. It's almost mind bending how 346 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,479 Speaker 1: evil all of This is while Stoney was privately writing 347 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: Eleanor flowery letters about how great of a mother she was, 348 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,120 Speaker 1: he was also denouncing her licentiousness and her neglecting her 349 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: children in letters published in the Morning Post. The letters 350 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: he published that defended her were in some ways even worse. 351 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: They blamed her for the lies, because she shouldn't have 352 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: fallen prey to them so easily. And he was doing 353 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 1: all of this by bribing the press and bribing Mary 354 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: Eleanor's closest confidence with money he had claimed from his 355 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: wife's death, which itself was likely in part a result 356 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: of his abuse. In early seventeen seventy seven, Stoney and 357 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: Bait sent the final steps of their plan in motion. 358 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,719 Speaker 1: They decided to stage a fake doule for Mary Eleanor's 359 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: honor to appeal to her romantic sensibilities. They went to 360 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 1: the Adelphi one night and bribed three witnesses, including a doctor, 361 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: to attest to the brutality of the duel and the 362 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: severity of Stoney's injuries. Stoney gave himself a few fake 363 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: cuts to complete the illusion, and he painted his face 364 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: white so he seemed like he was in dire condition. 365 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: A large bloodstain on Stoney's waistcoat might have been faked 366 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: with pig's blood. He dramatically collapsed into a chair as 367 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: medicks placed smelling salts under his nose to resuscitate him. 368 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: He fainted two more times in case the first fainting 369 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: spell wasn't convincing enough. When Mary came to visit him 370 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: the next morning at his sick bed, he delivered a 371 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:01,239 Speaker 1: flowery speech, pausing to WinCE in fake pain as he 372 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: begged for Mary Eleanor's hand in marriage. His ploy worked. 373 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: They were married just three days later. After Stoney made 374 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: a miraculous recovery from his supposedly life threatening injuries, people 375 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: had some suspicions about whether the duel had actually happened. 376 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: George Gray, mary Eleanor's spurned lover and whose child Mary 377 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: Eleanor was currently pregnant with, had particular reservations. At first, 378 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: he believed the story. He was actually the first one 379 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: to visit Stoney in bed after the duel, and Gray 380 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: thanked him for his bravery in defending Mary Eleanor's honor. 381 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: After Gray realized that his bride and fortune were stolen 382 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: out from under him, he began to voice his doubts, 383 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: but his qualms were dismissed as the protests of a 384 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: sore loser. A few months later, the newly married Mary 385 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: Eleanor stumbled on a curious letter sitting out on a 386 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: table addressed to Stoney from Reverend Henry Bate. Bate was 387 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,320 Speaker 1: complaining in the letter to Stoney that he hadn't been 388 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: paid yet, and he was threatening him with a real 389 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: duel or he would publicly expose the entire scheme. With that, 390 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor realized that she had been duped. Her fairytale 391 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: romance with Andrew Robinson Stoney was nothing more than a 392 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: fabrication at her expense. But this was only the first 393 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: stage of Stoney's plan, and now he was moving on 394 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: to the second. He would ruin Mary Eleanor's life and 395 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: take control of her fortune, exactly as he had done 396 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:07,960 Speaker 1: with his first wife, Hannah Brown. On the first anniversary 397 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: of their wedding January seventeenth, seventeen seventy eight, Andrew Robinson 398 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: Stoney told Mary Eleanor that he intended to make every 399 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: day of her life more miserable than the last. Over 400 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: the previous year, he had already been making good on 401 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: that promise pretty much. Immediately following their wedding, Mary Eleanor 402 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 1: saw her lover transform from a passionate, devoted gentleman into 403 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: an exacting, hot headed tyrant. Stoney began his marital reign 404 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,600 Speaker 1: of terror by taking control of every aspect of Mary 405 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 1: Eleanor's existence. He forbade her from speaking any language other 406 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 1: than English, even though Mary was multilingual. If she put 407 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 1: on a bonnet he disliked, he would rip it off 408 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: her head and cut it shreds. He ordered a carriage 409 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: to trail her wherever she went, and a valet to 410 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: report back to him on whatever she did. He read 411 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: all of the letters she received, as well as her responses. 412 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: Planned outings were canceled at the last minute. If Stony 413 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:25,280 Speaker 1: disliked Mary's outfit, Visitors to the house were turned away 414 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 1: unless he approved. She was forbidden from visiting her gardens 415 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: and hot houses, fully separated from her passion for botany. Soon, 416 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 1: all of this escalated into physical violence. He pinched, kicked, 417 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: and slapped her, and threatened to kill her if she 418 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: told any of her friends or servants what he was doing. 419 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor was forced to blame herself for the many bruises, cuts, 420 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:01,200 Speaker 1: and black eyes that Stoney gave her fabricating stories about 421 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: running into doors or falling down the stairs. Servants and 422 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,360 Speaker 1: housekeepers inevitably witnessed his abuse, but they were forced to 423 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 1: keep quiet out of fear of losing their jobs. Like 424 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:20,279 Speaker 1: many abusers, Stoney blamed Mary Eleanor for his violence. He 425 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 1: was enraged by Mary Eleanor's pregnancy by Gray, and even 426 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: more enraged at the fact that Mary had secretly signed 427 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: a prenup a few days before she married Stoney that 428 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 1: forbade him from accessing any of her fortune. She hadn't 429 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: suspected Stony of any wrongdoing at that time. She had 430 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: actually created those documents with Gray in mind, and did 431 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,480 Speaker 1: so in order to protect her children from her first 432 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: marriage and secure their inheritances. Ironically, when Stoney found out 433 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: about the prenup, he thought that he was the victim 434 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,960 Speaker 1: of an elaborate at hoax, rather than the other way around. 435 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: Stony quickly maneuvered to rest control of his wife's fortune 436 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: from her prenum, forcing her to revoke the deeds which 437 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 1: prevented him from accessing her estate. He also curtailed her 438 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 1: relationships with her immediate family, including her five children from 439 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: her first marriage, because he mandated exactly who she could 440 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: see and for how long. As Stoney's abuse intensified, Mary 441 00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:42,760 Speaker 1: Eleanor's confident, plucky and intelligent demeanor were seeded, she became subdued, submissive, fearful, gaunt, 442 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:48,279 Speaker 1: and disheveled. Stony forbade her from speaking or permitted her 443 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: only to say yes or no, and so guests assumed 444 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: that she was rude, or crazy or dumb. Unfortunately, and 445 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,160 Speaker 1: I'm just warning you now, the abuse just continues to 446 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:06,760 Speaker 1: become more and more heartbreaking. A little over a year 447 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:11,040 Speaker 1: into their marriage, Stony forced Mary Eleanor to write a 448 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: list of her air quote crimes, titled the Confessions of 449 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:21,360 Speaker 1: the Countess of Strathmore, as evidence that justified the abuse 450 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: she endured. The list contained nearly one hundred pages, detailing 451 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: quote everything she ever did, said, or thought that was 452 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: wrong and quote, including her affairs, teenage romances, abortions, and 453 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 1: even friendships. The education that her father had carefully provided 454 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 1: her and that had inspired a lifetime of curiosity, was 455 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:54,320 Speaker 1: recast as evidence of her inherent worthlessness. In her confessions, 456 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor condemned her father for not instilling in her 457 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: enough reliegeous fervor to prevent her wrongdoings. Meanwhile, Stoney only 458 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:11,240 Speaker 1: gained power both inside and outside the marriage. Stoney used 459 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:15,239 Speaker 1: his new proximity to wealth and his wife's connections to 460 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:20,080 Speaker 1: pursue political power. He served as Higher Sheriff of Durham 461 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty and was elected MP for Newcastle later 462 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,640 Speaker 1: the same year, serving until seventeen eighty four when he 463 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: lost his election. It was that election in seventeen eighty 464 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:39,080 Speaker 1: four that would indirectly set in motion Mary Eleanor's escape. 465 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: Stressed about securing his reelection, Stoney was less exacting and 466 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:50,240 Speaker 1: monomaniacal about household manners, so when he needed to hire 467 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:53,960 Speaker 1: a new maid for Mary Eleanor, he sought a recommendation 468 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,680 Speaker 1: from a colleague in Parliament. He ended up hiring a 469 00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:02,319 Speaker 1: woman named Mary Morgan, who was educated and just two 470 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:06,680 Speaker 1: years younger than Mary Eleanor. Unlike many of the other 471 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: workers in the Bow's household, Mary Morgan had a small 472 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: source of private income from the money her husband had 473 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,840 Speaker 1: left behind after his death. She had been working in 474 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:22,040 Speaker 1: Georgian high society to supplement that income, so that meant 475 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,200 Speaker 1: she was less dependent on Stoney and less fearful of 476 00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 1: his wrath. Shortly after she was hired, Mary Morgan accompanied 477 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,960 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor on a trip to Paris, where she first 478 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: became suspicious of her new mistress's husband. Stoney had forbidden 479 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor from looking out of the window of her 480 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:48,360 Speaker 1: hotel room, and he forced her to keep her face 481 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:53,800 Speaker 1: covered when she went outside. Stoney also instructed Mary Morgan 482 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:58,240 Speaker 1: to keep a chair against the door to trap Mary 483 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 1: Eleanor inside her room. One night, Mary Morgan stumbled upon 484 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:09,040 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor bleeding profusely from her ear. Blood was covering 485 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 1: her face and neck. Stony claimed that the wind had 486 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,960 Speaker 1: blown open a window and struck his wife in the face, 487 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:20,600 Speaker 1: but Mary Morgan knew that that story seemed far fetched. 488 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:25,560 Speaker 1: When Stony left the room, Mary Morgan pressed Mary Eleanor 489 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:30,279 Speaker 1: on it, who finally revealed that Stoney had clawed her 490 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 1: in the face after he caught her looking out the window. 491 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:39,520 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor had never admitted his abuse to anyone, let 492 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:43,239 Speaker 1: alone to someone like Mary Morgan, who sympathized with her 493 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: and believed her. This small step was crucial after years 494 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:55,400 Speaker 1: of enduring Stoney's abuses alone. Mary Eleanor finally had someone 495 00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:00,799 Speaker 1: on her team, but things were only getting worse. While 496 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:05,440 Speaker 1: Stoney was hell bent on withering away Mary Eleanor's life, 497 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:09,960 Speaker 1: he had not actually attempted to end it. He needed 498 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:14,600 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor to care for two young children. There was Mary, 499 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,440 Speaker 1: who was Gray's daughter, born in seventeen seventy seven, and 500 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:22,200 Speaker 1: a son, William, born in seventeen eighty two, who was 501 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:27,280 Speaker 1: Stoney's child. But as little William and Mary got older, 502 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:32,720 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor began to fear for her life. Stoney talked 503 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:37,000 Speaker 1: about wanting to strangle her, threatened her at knife point, 504 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,680 Speaker 1: and he took out a series of insurance policies on 505 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:44,319 Speaker 1: her life. It had been almost eight years at this 506 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:48,440 Speaker 1: point since they got married, and his first wife, Hannah, 507 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:52,440 Speaker 1: had died just eight years after they had been married, 508 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:58,919 Speaker 1: a grim echo of what could be Mary's fate. One night, 509 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:04,640 Speaker 1: Stoney order her to take laudanum and fake a suicide attempt, 510 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,759 Speaker 1: threatening that if she didn't, she would be kept from 511 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:13,840 Speaker 1: her children. Stoney poured an entire vial of laudanum in 512 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,880 Speaker 1: a glass of water by Mary Eleanor's bedside, well above 513 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:24,400 Speaker 1: the recommended dose. Mary was nervous, saying, perhaps there is 514 00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:28,640 Speaker 1: a further design in this than you have acquainted me with. 515 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: But I fear not to die, for I have long 516 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,360 Speaker 1: been weary of life. And if you will promise me 517 00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,799 Speaker 1: to take care of Mary, I will drink it off. 518 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:45,080 Speaker 1: She drank the entire glass. At Stoney's insistence, she pretended 519 00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 1: to announce her suicide while Stony fake cried. Mary Morgan 520 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,560 Speaker 1: rushed over, calling a doctor and giving Mary Eleanor something 521 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:59,759 Speaker 1: to make her vomit. Still, Mary Eleanor was bedridden in 522 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:05,400 Speaker 1: a stupor for four days. Stony used this false quote 523 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:09,279 Speaker 1: suicide attempt to try and get her locked away in 524 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:13,200 Speaker 1: an asylum, and he gave her a letter in December 525 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:19,280 Speaker 1: that confirmed this plan explicitly. Now knowing that her life 526 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:24,640 Speaker 1: would absolutely in danger, Mary Eleanor began to plot her escape. 527 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:28,239 Speaker 1: She sent Mary Morgan to meet with a barrister in 528 00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:31,839 Speaker 1: secret to see if she would be legally protected if 529 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:37,399 Speaker 1: she fled, and the barrister, very careful not to offer encouragement, 530 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:43,200 Speaker 1: said that Mary Eleanor could qualify for legal protection if 531 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:47,200 Speaker 1: she had evidence of her husband's abuse, but it would 532 00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:51,920 Speaker 1: not be easy. She would almost certainly lose her fortune, 533 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:57,680 Speaker 1: and she might never see her children again. On February third, 534 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty five, Stoney was out to dinner and the 535 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:07,680 Speaker 1: plan was set in motion. Mary Morgan distracted two housekeepers 536 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:10,360 Speaker 1: who were set to keep an eye on Mary Eleanor, 537 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:16,200 Speaker 1: with a conversation about trends in millinery. Meanwhile, another housemaid, 538 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,880 Speaker 1: in on the scheme, started a debate with the footman. 539 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:25,280 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor, wearing a servant's cloak and a maid's bonnet, 540 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:29,320 Speaker 1: scurried down the stairs and out through the basement, borrowing 541 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:32,440 Speaker 1: a few guineas from her maids and bringing with her 542 00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:37,760 Speaker 1: none of her belongings. Accompanied by another maid, Ann, Mary 543 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:42,280 Speaker 1: Eleanor went north towards Oxford Street, waiting for a carriage 544 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,759 Speaker 1: that would take them away. But the moment they got 545 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:50,560 Speaker 1: into the getaway carriage, they saw another carriage heading their way, 546 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:57,400 Speaker 1: Stoney's carriage. The housekeepers, realizing that Mary Eleanor had escaped, 547 00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:01,560 Speaker 1: had alerted Stoney, and he heard worried to track Mary 548 00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:07,600 Speaker 1: Eleanor down. His carriage passed by Mary Eleanor's, even getting 549 00:44:07,600 --> 00:44:11,480 Speaker 1: within a few feet, but he did not notice her inside. 550 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,719 Speaker 1: With Stoney out of sight, and no time to waste. 551 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:20,799 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor and Anne rushed to the barrister, who consulted 552 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,520 Speaker 1: with her for fifteen minutes to confirm her legal right 553 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:29,640 Speaker 1: to escape. Then Mary Eleanor snuck to a secret apartment 554 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:34,239 Speaker 1: hidden in an alleyway that Mary Morgan had secured for her. 555 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:41,680 Speaker 1: After nine years of enduring harrowing, life threatening abuse, Mary 556 00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:46,160 Speaker 1: Eleanor was finally free. In a letter she left behind 557 00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:51,160 Speaker 1: for Stoney, she wrote, quote, farewell, I forgive but will 558 00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:54,759 Speaker 1: never see you again. I can add no more as 559 00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: you have long ceased to treat me in any respect 560 00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:03,800 Speaker 1: as a wife or a But even though Mary had escaped, 561 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:08,719 Speaker 1: she wasn't free. It was incredibly difficult to end a 562 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:12,600 Speaker 1: marriage in Georgian England. The only way to exit a 563 00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:18,240 Speaker 1: marriage legally without one spouse dying was in an ecclesiastical court, 564 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:21,520 Speaker 1: a court run by the Church of England. If a 565 00:45:21,640 --> 00:45:27,560 Speaker 1: spouse claimed that their partner committed particularly egregious adultery, cruelty 566 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:31,880 Speaker 1: or heresy, the Church might permit the pair to divorce, 567 00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:36,880 Speaker 1: and may even entitle both parties to financial remittance. But 568 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:43,160 Speaker 1: this was an extremely long, difficult and expensive process, particularly 569 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:48,520 Speaker 1: for women between sixteen seventy and eighteen fifty seven, two 570 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:53,759 Speaker 1: thirds of the plaintiffs and ecclesiastical divorces were men. And 571 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:57,200 Speaker 1: even though Mary Eleanor had been born with nearly every 572 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:03,239 Speaker 1: advantage beauty, wealth, aguascation, smarts, and was raised to see 573 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,399 Speaker 1: herself as an equal of the men she interacted with, 574 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:11,880 Speaker 1: marriage had transferred that power to her husband. Her husband 575 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:17,040 Speaker 1: inherited her fortune and parleyed her famous name and connections 576 00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:21,200 Speaker 1: into a political career, and he now had a cadre 577 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:25,879 Speaker 1: of powerful government figures and army buddies at his disposal. 578 00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:30,480 Speaker 1: The witnesses to his abuse were housekeepers who were on 579 00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:34,800 Speaker 1: his payroll and so were unlikely to back Mary Eleanor 580 00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:39,600 Speaker 1: in a divorce trial, but this didn't deter Mary Eleanor. 581 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:44,480 Speaker 1: While Stony may have duped Mary Eleanor into marriage, in 582 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:48,080 Speaker 1: the end, he was more wrong about her than she 583 00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,520 Speaker 1: was about him. He thought of her as a mark 584 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:55,680 Speaker 1: that he could ply with sweet nothings before seizing her 585 00:46:55,719 --> 00:47:00,919 Speaker 1: assets and either nearly or completely killing her. But her 586 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:06,360 Speaker 1: spirit would not so easily be destroyed. Even after nine 587 00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:11,120 Speaker 1: years of being beaten and starved, she knew somewhere deep 588 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:16,200 Speaker 1: down that she deserved more Stony may have been dogged 589 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:20,319 Speaker 1: in marrying Mary Eleanor, but little did he know that 590 00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:24,560 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor would be just as dogged in her attempt 591 00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:29,560 Speaker 1: to get out of the marriage. And so on February 592 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:35,360 Speaker 1: twenty eighth, seventeen eighty five, Mary Eleanor filed for divorce 593 00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:40,239 Speaker 1: from Andrew Robinson Stoney. But the story doesn't end here. 594 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,440 Speaker 1: This decision would set off a series of trials and 595 00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:49,440 Speaker 1: retrials that would drag on for decades and become a 596 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:55,240 Speaker 1: media sensation, with both Mary Eleanor and Stony endlessly picked 597 00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:58,960 Speaker 1: a part in the tabloids. The marriage may have lasted 598 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:03,160 Speaker 1: a little over nine years, but the divorce which changed 599 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:09,000 Speaker 1: the course of marriage itself for centuries. Going forward. All 600 00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 1: this and more in Part two of the story to come. 601 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,080 Speaker 1: That's Part one of the story of Mary Eleanor Bows. 602 00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:26,080 Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear 603 00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:30,480 Speaker 1: a little bit more about how Andrew Robinson Stoney inspired 604 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:34,400 Speaker 1: a novel and much later a film about his quest 605 00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:47,320 Speaker 1: for Mary Eleanor's hand. In eighteen forty one, Mary Eleanor's grandson, 606 00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:51,320 Speaker 1: John Bows, welcomed a visitor to his home at Streathlam 607 00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:57,000 Speaker 1: castle a young writer named William Thackeray. While they hung out, 608 00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:01,719 Speaker 1: Bows told Thackeray the incredible story of how his grandmother, 609 00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:06,080 Speaker 1: Mary Eleanor, had been trapped in this very castle fifty 610 00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:09,839 Speaker 1: years earlier by her husband, who had duped her into 611 00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:14,880 Speaker 1: a marriage under false pretenses. After the trip, Thackeray wrote 612 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,719 Speaker 1: to his publisher, I have, in my trip to the country, 613 00:49:18,760 --> 00:49:23,000 Speaker 1: found materials, or rather a character, for a story that 614 00:49:23,239 --> 00:49:28,880 Speaker 1: I'm sure must be amusing. This story became a novel 615 00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:33,760 Speaker 1: called The Luck of Barry Lyndon, published in October eighteen 616 00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:39,439 Speaker 1: forty three and serialized in Fraser's magazine throughout eighteen forty four. 617 00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:45,160 Speaker 1: The book was revised several times, but it follows Barry Lyndon, who, 618 00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:49,879 Speaker 1: like Andrew Robinson Stoney, was an Irish soldier who liked 619 00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:54,400 Speaker 1: to drink, gamble, and sleep around before managing to dupe 620 00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:59,800 Speaker 1: and seduce a wealthy heiress, Lady Lyndon. After Barry Lyndon 621 00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:05,240 Speaker 1: mistreated her for several years, Lady Lyndon manages to extract 622 00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:09,359 Speaker 1: herself from the marriage, and Barry Lyndon ultimately ends the 623 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:14,040 Speaker 1: novel in jail. While the novel reproduces the events around 624 00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:20,120 Speaker 1: Andrew Stony and Mary Eleanor's relationship pretty faithfully, Thackeray imagined 625 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:25,719 Speaker 1: a different past. Barry Lyndon, unlike Andrew Sotny, actually went 626 00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:30,759 Speaker 1: into battle. Around one hundred and thirty years later, the 627 00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:35,000 Speaker 1: director Stanley Kubrick was looking for a new project. He 628 00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:38,160 Speaker 1: had been working on a script about Napoleon that wasn't 629 00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:42,719 Speaker 1: going anywhere. He thought about adapting Thackeray's Vanity Fair, but 630 00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,719 Speaker 1: figured it might be too complicated to fit into a 631 00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:50,440 Speaker 1: single feature, and so he turned to Barry Lindon instead. 632 00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:55,600 Speaker 1: While Kubrick's film is fairly faithful to the novel, the 633 00:50:55,719 --> 00:51:01,200 Speaker 1: tone is extremely different. Thackeray's novel is a farce, narrated 634 00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:06,239 Speaker 1: unreliably by Barry himself as he attempts to create a 635 00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:12,680 Speaker 1: self aggrandizing account of his schemes, abuses, and misdeeds. Meanwhile, 636 00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:17,400 Speaker 1: the movie attempts to be more quote objective. As Kubrick 637 00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:20,600 Speaker 1: puts in an interview. Around the time the film came out, 638 00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:27,040 Speaker 1: they carefully reproduced costumes from the period and used special 639 00:51:27,160 --> 00:51:31,400 Speaker 1: lenses that had actually been developed for NASA so that 640 00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:36,960 Speaker 1: they could film interior scenes by candlelight. Thackeray called his 641 00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:41,480 Speaker 1: novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon a novel without a hero, 642 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:46,320 Speaker 1: and Kubrick called his version of Barry Lyndon a film 643 00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:51,240 Speaker 1: with quote neither a conventional hero nor a conventional villain. 644 00:51:52,239 --> 00:51:56,320 Speaker 1: Barry Lyndon, while definitely not a hero, is a little 645 00:51:56,320 --> 00:52:01,239 Speaker 1: bit more of a lovable rogue than the cruel, abusive, 646 00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:08,440 Speaker 1: murderous stony. Sometimes fiction paints things in a more palatable hue. 647 00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:28,280 Speaker 1: Barry Lyndon is the story made glossy by candlelight. Noble 648 00:52:28,320 --> 00:52:32,760 Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild 649 00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:36,960 Speaker 1: from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is created and hosted by 650 00:52:37,080 --> 00:52:42,400 Speaker 1: me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, 651 00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:47,600 Speaker 1: Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The 652 00:52:47,640 --> 00:52:51,880 Speaker 1: show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and rima 653 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:57,920 Speaker 1: Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers 654 00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:01,919 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams and and Matt Frederick. For more 655 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:07,919 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 656 00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:09,960 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.