WEBVTT - The Plot to Undo Mary Eleanor Bowes, Part 1 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:05.040 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:09.680 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised, Hey, this 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:12.840 is Danish sport's host of Noble Blood. Just a few 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.799 quick reminders before the episode. If you want to support 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:20.720 the show, we have a Patreon Patreon dot com slash 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:24.800 Noble Blood Tales, where there's merch, where I upload episode 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.600 scripts and where I do a weekly podcast watching the 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:32.800 television show Rain, which is about Mary, Queen of Scott's. 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.520 It's a lot of fun. Join us support the show there. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.600 There's also links to show merch and to my books 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:43.960 in the episode description and one quick note before this episode. 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:50.040 This episode contains fairly graphic depictions of domestic violence. There 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:54.320 are also terminated pregnancies, so if either of those topics 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.400 are particularly sensitive for you, this one might be an 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:08.399 episode to skip. In April seventeen seventy six, Mary Eleanor 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:13.800 Bowse received a letter from her husband, Earl John Strathmore. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.760 One month earlier, he had left their sprawling estate in 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:23.480 the Scottish countryside on a trip to Portugal, and upon 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:28.720 opening the letter, Mary Eleanor expected to hear good tidings, 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:34.479 but this letter revealed dark news. Her husband was dead. 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:39.920 He had died of tuberculosis, and this letter contained his 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.920 final words to his now widow. While you might be 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:51.280 expecting something vague or sweet, his letter instead revealed how 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:57.040 contentious and challenging their marriage had become. The Earl of 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:01.520 Strathmore wrote, quote, as this is not intended for your 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:05.440 perusal till I am dead, I hope you will pay 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.120 a little more attention to it than you ever did 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:13.600 to anything I said to you while alive. I freely 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:18.079 forgive you all your liberties and follies, however fatal they 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:22.119 have been, to me, as being thoroughly persuaded, they were 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:26.320 not the produce of your own mind, but the suggestions 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:32.520 of some vile interested monster. Back in the early days 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.959 of their courtship, the Earl of Strathmore had been tall 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:42.720 and elegant, nicknamed quote the Beautiful Lord Strathmore, with a dignified, 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:48.040 if stand offish air. Meanwhile, Mary Eleanor had been just 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:52.160 sixteen years old and well known for being one of 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:56.639 the richest heiresses in the country, if not all of Europe. 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:01.840 She had no shortage of suitors, but the Beautiful Lord 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:07.160 Strathmore caught her eye. She, like many sixteen year old girls, 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:11.560 couldn't help but be drawn to someone so handsome and 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:17.200 also mysterious and aloof Her family had some reservations about 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.440 the match, since the Strathmore family had accumulated a number 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.360 of debts over the decades, which would potentially even put 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:31.120 Mary Eleanor's fortune in jeopardy. Still, Mary Eleanor was charmed 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.680 by the Earl of Strathmore and a little excited to 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:39.720 rebel against her family's expectations. She told her mother that 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.080 she would marry either the Earl of Strathmore or no 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:48.320 one at all. Her family reluctantly accepted, and Mary Eleanor 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:53.720 married him in seventeen sixty nine. But if there ever 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.640 had been a honeymoon period after the wedding, it was 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:02.640 over quickly. The next seven years of marriage were cold 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:08.560 and unromantic. The Earl of Strathmore gambled, drank, and cheated 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:13.200 on his wife, contracting syphilis along the way, all while 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:18.400 Mary Eleanor attended to their five children and their vast estate. 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:23.360 Mary Eleanor prided herself on her loyalty to her husband 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.559 in spite of his dalliances, but by seventeen seventy six, 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:31.799 she was fed up with it and initiated an affair 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:36.000 of her own. She met a man named George Gray, 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:41.720 who from their very first meeting paid her near constant attention, 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.960 which was a welcome far cry from her distant husband. 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:52.000 Though resentment mounted in the marriage and indiscretions piled up, 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:57.880 divorce was difficult and highly uncommon, and could have destroyed 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:02.400 both of their reputations, so the marriage only ended when 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.039 the Earl died at the age of thirty eight in 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:12.599 seventeen seventy six. But the Earl's final letter complicated Mary 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:17.479 Eleanor's justified feelings of freedom and relief once her husband 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:21.280 was gone. Even though in the letter he dismissed her 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:25.119 ambitions to write as feudal and accused her of being 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.400 prejudiced against him and his family for their debts, he 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:33.360 said he was holding back his true feelings, writing that 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:37.279 he wasn't quote tempted to say an ill natured thing 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.640 for the sake of sporting a bon mow. Instead. In 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:45.120 his final letter, the Earl of Strathmore wanted to give 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:49.440 his wife some advice from beyond the grave. The Earl 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:56.080 cautioned Mary Eleanor to choose her next partner, wisely writing quote, 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:00.880 A dead man can have no interest to mislead living man. 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:08.920 May those words would unfortunately prove prophetic. Unlike many women 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:14.120 trapped in loveless marriages, Mary Eleanor had been given a 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:19.560 second chance at a new life relatively young, giving her 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:23.720 plenty of time to potentially find a new husband who 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:29.040 might share her interests and respect her intelligence. After all, 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:33.440 as the richest woman in Britain, she could pretty much 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:38.360 have any man she wanted. Even the reckless gambling habits 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.760 of her late husband hadn't put a dent in her 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:46.679 vast coal fortune. She was the heir to somewhere between 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:53.200 six hundred thousand and one million, forty thousand pounds. But 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:58.560 money cannot save you from bad judgment, and unfortunately, as 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:04.080 Mary Eleanor's late husband predicted, she would ultimately be faced 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:09.000 with a man with every intent to mislead her. I'm 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:18.200 Danas Schwartz and this is noble blood. Mary Eleanor barely 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:21.840 set aside time to mourn her late husband before launching 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:26.080 into enjoying her new single life. Although her newly single 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.720 life was not quite as single as she let on, 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:34.080 she already had a lover, George Gray, who she had 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.920 started seeing when her husband was still very much alive. 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:43.360 Unlike the late Earl of Strathmore, Gray was a devoted, 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:49.320 attentive lover, visiting Mary Eleanor every day and sitting at 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:54.480 her bedside every evening. Even though she entertained his affections 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:58.720 and did have a sexual relationship with him, Mary Eleanor 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.880 seemed to put Gray in the eighteenth century equivalent of 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.840 the friend zone, saying that she felt nothing for him 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:13.640 quote that exceeded friendship. As a wealthy single woman, Mary 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:19.000 Eleanor was also free to pursue her intellectual interests unencumbered. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:24.600 Mary Eleanor's late husband had resented her intellect and viewed 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:29.960 her interests as fruitless dalliances, distracting her from her true 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.880 task of tending to the household and caring for their 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:38.319 young children. Her husband had been particularly dismissive of her 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.640 interest in botany. Mary Eleanor was one of few women 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.400 working as a botanist in Britain at the time. A 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:51.560 colleague described her as quote the most intelligent female botanist 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:56.000 of the age, and she built hothouses and gardens across 0:08:56.040 --> 0:09:00.880 her vast estates where she cultivated exotic plants from around 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:05.240 the world, but the late Earl of Strathmore thought that 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:12.760 plant pollination was too sexually suggestive for a woman's delicate sensibilities. 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:18.480 After her husband's death, she supplemented her solo botanical study 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:23.320 by hosting salons. While Mary Eleanor was denied entry into 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:28.240 the all male Royal Botanical Society, she gathered the greatest 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:32.160 botanical minds of the day under her roof for hours 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:37.000 of lively discussions about the latest discoveries. But not everyone 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.240 was happy to see her living a life of freedom. 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:44.439 The same colleague that described Mary Eleanor as the most 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:49.319 intelligent female botanist of the age also said that quote 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:54.040 her judgment was weak, her prudence almost none, and her 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.440 prejudice abounded, and that she lived in a quote house 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:03.040 of folly. Marie Eleanor did not particularly want to get 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:08.040 married again. She told Gray her friend slash Lover, that 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:12.040 after her dismal marriage to the Earl of Strathmore, she 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:17.840 would never quote engage herself so indissolubly again. But even 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.640 Mary wondered if she would receive come uppance for her 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:27.199 fairly reckless, brazen affair with George Gray. She had already 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:31.559 gotten pregnant by him a few times. Knowing that having 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.600 a child out of wedlock would destroy her reputation, she 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:42.040 had abortions which were expensive, dangerous, and unreliable. Each time 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:46.000 she took what she described as a quote black, inky 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:50.040 kind of medicine. We don't know exactly what was in it. 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:53.640 According to her, it looked and tasted as if it 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.559 might have contained copper. If that didn't work, she'd add 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.920 a large glass of brandy, seasoned with a handful of 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:07.280 black pepper. Even though these abortions, in Mary's case, were effective, 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:12.360 each one seemed like a bad omen to marry her luck, 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:17.600 she believed would only last so long. Society could only 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:22.120 tolerate so much of her freedom, and soon she knew 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:27.720 she would have to settle down. Into this picture entered 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:34.520 a charming Irish soldier named Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney. He 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.840 was a known figure in the coffeehouse scene of the 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:42.320 late eighteenth century, living above Saint James Coffee House, a 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.480 quick walk from where Mary Eleanor lived in Grovesnor Square. 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:51.679 Stoney had a number of qualities that Mary Eleanor found attractive. 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.280 He was five foot ten, which was tall at a 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.880 time when the average height was five foot five. He 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:04.880 was also handsome and impeccably dressed. He owned over ninety shirts, 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:09.920 according to his valet, very great Gatsby. And unlike her 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.960 aloof late husband and her lover, whom she saw more 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:20.719 as a friend, Stoney was passionate and romantic. Sometimes his gentlemanly, 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:27.720 well mannered temperament gave way to expressions of intoxicating, overwhelming ardor. 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:35.080 He wrote flowery letters, left big tips, and gave lavish gifts. Plus, 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:40.080 Mary Eleanor had a particular weakness for Celtic man. Stoney 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:44.360 was Irish, and her first husband and Gray were both Scottish. 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:49.880 Stoney sent a letter of interest in July of seventeen 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:54.400 seventy six, just a few months after Mary Eleanor's husband 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:58.840 had died. Unlike the formal address that she was used to, 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:03.120 he sign the letter with a simple it is for you, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.079 and he arrived at her doorstep to hand deliver it. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:14.600 With a powerful combination of flattery and alluring informality, Stoney 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:19.000 wrote quote, I have taken some liberties for which your 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:23.320 ladyship can find no excuse unless you apply to the 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:28.480 powerful pleading of inclination for such freedom. I wish to 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.120 make every apology, but I cannot get the better of 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.640 a passion which has taken the intense possession of my heart. 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:42.440 We don't have Mary's reply, but Stoney would brag about 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:46.520 Mary's equally flowery letters when he was at a coffee 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:51.520 shop in Bath, which suggests that she responded in kind. 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.720 Two of Mary's closest friends, a woman named Elijah Planta, 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.680 and a man named Captain Magra, were both both big 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:05.600 fans of Stony. One day, Mary, Eliza, and Magra went 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:09.040 to a fortune teller to get their fortunes read. They 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.840 snuck off to a dingy building near Newgate Prison and 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:17.240 sat in a cold, dark waiting room for seven hours. 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.280 They passed the time making up poems together and writing 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.720 them on the wall in a lead pencil. In one 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:29.280 of the poems, according to historian Wendy Moore, Mary wrote 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:34.760 some lines denouncing matrimony. Mary also passed the time chatting 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.680 with the others in the waiting room, pretending to be 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:43.040 a grocer's widow with ten children named Missus Smith. When 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.440 finally she got to speak with the fortune teller, she 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:50.960 mentioned her struggle deciding on a husband, and the fortune 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:56.600 teller spoke highly of a tall Irish soldier. Even Magra, 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:02.520 a skeptic, was convinced of this fortune teller's skill. While 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.840 the stars seemed to align around her new relationship with Stony, 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.720 Mary didn't really think of him as a serious option. 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.320 She was still in a relationship with Gray, which was 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:21.000 getting increasingly intense. She had gotten pregnant yet again, but 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:25.240 this time her abortion wasn't working. Seeing that she had 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.040 no choice but to get married, Mary proposed to Gray, 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:33.400 which at the time was considered legally binding. They had 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:38.040 even exchanged rings at Saint Paul's Cathedral one night, as 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:43.680 Mary Eleanor promised to marry none but him. Meanwhile, Mary 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:47.840 Eleanor was getting smeared in the press, putting extra pressure 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:52.840 on her engagement. As the richest and most eligible heiress 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.960 in Britain, she was a known tabloid figure and she 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:02.040 was very familiar with laughing off articles her libertine lifestyle, 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:07.560 but her feelings were genuinely hurt when an anonymous article 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:13.160 signed from a conscious stinger appeared in the Morning Post 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:18.280 on December twelfth, seventeen seventy six. The letter accused her 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:23.320 of insulting her late husband's memory with her affairs, accused 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.480 her of cheating on her husband while he was still alive, 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:32.120 and abandoning her children. A response appeared in the next 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:37.720 issue defending Mary's reputation, but even that more positive letter 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:44.800 seemed ridiculing, even sarcastic, arguing for her quote agonizing and 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:49.760 heartfelt sorrow at her late husband's death, which everyone knew 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:56.720 was stretch. The quote unquote more complimentary letter also portrayed 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:02.600 her as a mercurial, guileless pam being manipulated by men 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:08.320 seeking to exploit her vast fortune. Throughout December and January, 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:13.359 these anonymous letters went back and forth, alternately condemning Mary 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:17.160 for being a cunning seductress and bad mother, and then 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.240 shooting down those accusations with a defense that Mary Eleanor 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:25.520 was merely an innocent fool. The court of public opinion 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.879 seemed to be closing in on her, a fear only 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:35.360 exacerbated by her pregnancy. Stoney was incensed by these letters 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.640 in the newspaper. He approached the editor of the Morning Post, 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:46.200 Reverend Henry Bate, demanding to know who besmirched Mary. Eleanor's reputation. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.720 Bate replied that the letters were anonymous, so he didn't 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:56.600 know the authors. Unsatisfied with that response, Stoney challenged Bait 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:01.280 to a duel to defend Mary Eleanor's honor. Stoney and 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.919 Bait met at Adelphi Tavern one night, which was a 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:11.119 bit atypical as duels were typically conducted at dawn and 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:16.439 in more private locations than bustling city taverns, but the 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:21.720 shadowy locale spoke to Stoney's sense of urgency. He wouldn't 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.639 even wait until the next morning to defend his beloved 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:32.840 Adhering to dual conduct, both men drew pistols, and Bait 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:38.959 insisted that Stoney fire first. Stoney missed, shooting Bait's hat, 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:44.359 and Bait missed two, the bullet merely tearing Stoney's coat. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:49.320 The men then drew swords, and in the ensuing fight, 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:55.000 Stoney got slashed several times all over his body. According 0:18:55.040 --> 0:19:00.119 to a well regarded surgeon and multiple witnesses, these injuries 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:04.720 were life threatening. He was rushed to the hospital, blood 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:10.199 staining his clothing. The next morning, Mary Eleanor rushed to 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:15.720 Stoney's bedside. Stony seemingly moments from death, proclaimed that he 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:20.400 would only die happy if he married Mary Eleanor. Doctor 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:23.520 said that the wounded soldier only had a few days 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.119 left to live, so she would probably be a widow 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:31.040 once again anyway, and it seemed heartless to deny this 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:35.480 man his dying wish after he had sacrificed his life 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:40.080 for her. So, despite the legally binding promise that she 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:45.200 had made to Gray, she accepted Stoney's marriage proposal, and 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:49.399 three days later the two were married at Saint James's Church. 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:54.879 Stoney gave his vows from a makeshift bed, wincing in pain, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:59.719 but the two were happily wed. The duel was something 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:04.320 right out of Mary Eleanor's most romantic fantasies. Back when 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.119 she was still married to the Earl of Strathmore, she 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.920 had written a five act tragic play in which two 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.120 men dueled for the honor of a maiden. And if 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:18.240 this were a romance, perhaps the story would end here. 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:23.240 The widow and the gallant soldier married headed toward there 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:28.439 happily ever after, But the story does not end here. 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:34.640 Stony recovered from his purportedly life threatening injuries, making this 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:40.560 hasty marriage a fact of Mary Eleanor's life Now. As 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:45.760 it turns out, this dashing Irish captain had some skeletons 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:51.320 in his closet. Nearly every aspect of their courtship, from 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:55.159 the fortune teller to the duel to his status in 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.800 the British Army, would turn out to be a lie. 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:06.240 Revelations would nearly destroy Mary Eleanor and transform their seemingly 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:16.520 picture perfect romance into a nightmare. Perhaps Mary Eleanor's romance 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:21.120 with Stony felt ripped from fiction because in some ways 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:26.360 it was the Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney that Mary Eleanor 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:31.280 fell in love with. Was almost a complete fabrication from 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:35.520 the beginning, starting with the captain part. It turned out 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:39.520 that Stoney was not a captain. He was barely even 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:43.680 in the British Army. In November seventeen sixty four, when 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:48.240 Sotny was seventeen, his uncle secured him a position as 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.200 an ensign, the lowest rank of officer, as a favor 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:55.720 to Stony's father, who was looking to instill in his 0:21:55.840 --> 0:22:01.280 son some much needed discipline. Stoney was fired the following 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:06.959 year for flouting rules, gambling, sleeping around, and erupting in anger. 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:11.639 As another favor. He was allowed to rejoin the army 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:16.400 in seventeen sixty seven, where he was stationed in Newcastle, 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:20.680 but he managed to avoid ever going into battle by 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:25.440 courting the affections of Hannah Newton, an heiress with a 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:31.480 vast coal fortune, and securing her hand in marriage. Once married, 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:35.240 he quit the army and spent his days gambling, shopping, 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:40.760 and cavorting with his various military buddies. The only commitment 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:45.320 he seemed to pursue with any consistency was making his 0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:50.040 new wife, Hannah's life a living hell. While Hannah's own 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:54.040 voice is lost in the historical record, none of her 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:59.879 letters or writings survive, witnesses accounts fill in some of 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:05.399 the harrowing details of how Stoney treated her. Once he 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.760 locked Hannah in a cupboard in just her underwear and 0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:14.200 kept her there for three days, giving her one egg 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:20.080 a day for sustenance. Another account recalls him throwing her 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:25.600 down the stairs. His justification for his abuse was that 0:23:25.680 --> 0:23:29.199 Hannah had not yet given him an air, which he 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:34.119 needed in order to have complete control over Hannah's fortune, 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:38.160 as that would legally allow him to maintain his rights 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:42.800 to the Newton estate through his own lifetime regardless of 0:23:42.840 --> 0:23:47.840 what happened to Hannah, but she continued to have miscarriages 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:52.800 and steelborns throughout their marriage as her own health failed, 0:23:53.480 --> 0:23:59.640 likely compounded by Stoney's abuse. She died March seventeen seventy 0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:05.639 six during childbirth, and the baby died alongside her. After 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:11.320 Hannah's death, rumors about Stoney's violence towards his wife abounded. 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:15.960 A letter from a colleague in Newcastle alleged that he 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:21.240 had shortened her days, while an anonymous pamphlet published in 0:24:21.440 --> 0:24:26.840 seventeen seventy seven argued that he should be tried for murder. 0:24:27.600 --> 0:24:32.000 Stoney had only just collected the five thousand pounds Hannah 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:35.080 left him in her will before he headed off to 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:40.200 London in search of another wealthy bride. Luckily for him, 0:24:40.560 --> 0:24:45.879 Mary Eleanor Bows, the wealthiest woman in Britain, had recently 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:50.119 become a widow. It wouldn't be easy for Stoney to 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:54.679 win Mary Eleanor's heart. It seemed an impossible feat for 0:24:54.880 --> 0:24:59.719 an unknown soldier saddled with rumors of violence against his 0:24:59.720 --> 0:25:04.919 firs wife, especially since Mary Eleanor was already involved with 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:10.520 George Gray. But those obstacles only made Stoney even more 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:18.159 determined to seduce and destroy Mary Eleanor. After making his 0:25:18.240 --> 0:25:22.560 way to London, Stoney's first challenge was embedding himself in 0:25:22.680 --> 0:25:27.600 Mary Eleanor's social circle. He knew Captain Perkins Magra, one 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:31.840 of Mary Eleanor's closest friends, as an old pal from 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:35.639 the army, and Stoney recruited him as an ally in 0:25:35.680 --> 0:25:40.760 his plot to win Mary's heart. Magra served as Stoney's 0:25:40.800 --> 0:25:45.760 wingman through the process, picking up a dashing scarlet uniform 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:50.679 and frocksuit for Stoney to wear, and introducing Stoney to 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:57.240 Mary Eleanor's governess, Eliza Planta. Stoney plied Planta with flattery 0:25:57.400 --> 0:26:01.920 and bribes, and she even became his lover in addition 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:07.000 to his spy in the Bow's household, Eliza would report 0:26:07.040 --> 0:26:12.240 back to Stoney about Mary's vulnerabilities and interests so that 0:26:12.280 --> 0:26:17.040 Stoney could woo her. From Eliza, Stoney learned about Mary 0:26:17.080 --> 0:26:21.679 Eleanor's beloved cats and favorite daughters, both of which he 0:26:21.840 --> 0:26:26.040 was careful to praise. In one letter, Stoney even wished 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:29.040 he were one of Mary Eleanor's cats so that he 0:26:29.080 --> 0:26:34.560 could quote be stroked and caressed by her. Stony made 0:26:34.600 --> 0:26:38.600 sure Eliza Planta and Captain Magra talked him up to 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:44.159 Mary Eleanor and dispelled any unfortunate rumors about his relationship 0:26:44.240 --> 0:26:48.600 with his late ex wife. Stony even had the three 0:26:48.640 --> 0:26:51.920 of them meet with the fortune Teller, who he coached 0:26:52.000 --> 0:26:56.520 on what to say the entire episode, the seven hour 0:26:56.640 --> 0:27:02.680 wait time, Captain Magra's supposed cauvicious skepticism, the fortune teller's 0:27:02.800 --> 0:27:06.800 premonition that a tall Irish soldier would be the right 0:27:06.880 --> 0:27:12.639 match was all orchestrated by Stoney, But even that hadn't 0:27:12.640 --> 0:27:16.639 been enough to win Mary Eleanor's hand in marriage. She 0:27:16.800 --> 0:27:20.800 still considered him a dalliance from her real affair with 0:27:21.040 --> 0:27:27.600 George Gray, so Stoney played dirty. He approached an old friend, 0:27:28.040 --> 0:27:32.479 Reverend Henry Bate, editor of The Morning Post and fellow 0:27:32.600 --> 0:27:37.680 army veteran, and they created an elaborate plot to win 0:27:38.000 --> 0:27:43.959 Mary Eleanor's heart. In exchange for a hefty bribe, Bates 0:27:44.000 --> 0:27:50.000 agreed to help craft and then publish anonymous letters admonishing 0:27:50.160 --> 0:27:53.800 Mary Eleanor for her crimes, as well as the ones 0:27:53.960 --> 0:28:00.880 supposedly quote defending her reputation. It's almost mind bending how 0:28:01.000 --> 0:28:05.479 evil all of This is while Stoney was privately writing 0:28:05.520 --> 0:28:09.359 Eleanor flowery letters about how great of a mother she was, 0:28:09.960 --> 0:28:14.120 he was also denouncing her licentiousness and her neglecting her 0:28:14.200 --> 0:28:18.800 children in letters published in the Morning Post. The letters 0:28:18.840 --> 0:28:23.600 he published that defended her were in some ways even worse. 0:28:24.240 --> 0:28:27.960 They blamed her for the lies, because she shouldn't have 0:28:28.000 --> 0:28:32.600 fallen prey to them so easily. And he was doing 0:28:32.680 --> 0:28:36.440 all of this by bribing the press and bribing Mary 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:41.320 Eleanor's closest confidence with money he had claimed from his 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:46.360 wife's death, which itself was likely in part a result 0:28:46.440 --> 0:28:52.240 of his abuse. In early seventeen seventy seven, Stoney and 0:28:52.400 --> 0:28:56.400 Bait sent the final steps of their plan in motion. 0:28:57.200 --> 0:29:01.719 They decided to stage a fake doule for Mary Eleanor's 0:29:01.720 --> 0:29:07.040 honor to appeal to her romantic sensibilities. They went to 0:29:07.080 --> 0:29:11.560 the Adelphi one night and bribed three witnesses, including a doctor, 0:29:12.120 --> 0:29:16.000 to attest to the brutality of the duel and the 0:29:16.040 --> 0:29:21.160 severity of Stoney's injuries. Stoney gave himself a few fake 0:29:21.360 --> 0:29:25.440 cuts to complete the illusion, and he painted his face 0:29:25.720 --> 0:29:29.240 white so he seemed like he was in dire condition. 0:29:29.960 --> 0:29:34.840 A large bloodstain on Stoney's waistcoat might have been faked 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:39.800 with pig's blood. He dramatically collapsed into a chair as 0:29:39.920 --> 0:29:44.520 medicks placed smelling salts under his nose to resuscitate him. 0:29:44.840 --> 0:29:48.280 He fainted two more times in case the first fainting 0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:53.000 spell wasn't convincing enough. When Mary came to visit him 0:29:53.040 --> 0:29:56.440 the next morning at his sick bed, he delivered a 0:29:56.600 --> 0:30:01.239 flowery speech, pausing to WinCE in fake pain as he 0:30:01.400 --> 0:30:06.280 begged for Mary Eleanor's hand in marriage. His ploy worked. 0:30:06.840 --> 0:30:12.280 They were married just three days later. After Stoney made 0:30:12.320 --> 0:30:18.280 a miraculous recovery from his supposedly life threatening injuries, people 0:30:18.400 --> 0:30:23.120 had some suspicions about whether the duel had actually happened. 0:30:23.760 --> 0:30:28.520 George Gray, mary Eleanor's spurned lover and whose child Mary 0:30:28.560 --> 0:30:34.640 Eleanor was currently pregnant with, had particular reservations. At first, 0:30:34.680 --> 0:30:37.840 he believed the story. He was actually the first one 0:30:37.880 --> 0:30:41.280 to visit Stoney in bed after the duel, and Gray 0:30:41.440 --> 0:30:45.520 thanked him for his bravery in defending Mary Eleanor's honor. 0:30:46.480 --> 0:30:52.200 After Gray realized that his bride and fortune were stolen 0:30:52.280 --> 0:30:55.920 out from under him, he began to voice his doubts, 0:30:56.440 --> 0:31:00.440 but his qualms were dismissed as the protests of a 0:31:00.600 --> 0:31:05.480 sore loser. A few months later, the newly married Mary 0:31:05.560 --> 0:31:10.240 Eleanor stumbled on a curious letter sitting out on a 0:31:10.320 --> 0:31:16.600 table addressed to Stoney from Reverend Henry Bate. Bate was 0:31:16.640 --> 0:31:20.320 complaining in the letter to Stoney that he hadn't been 0:31:20.480 --> 0:31:24.320 paid yet, and he was threatening him with a real 0:31:24.600 --> 0:31:30.520 duel or he would publicly expose the entire scheme. With that, 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:36.600 Mary Eleanor realized that she had been duped. Her fairytale 0:31:36.760 --> 0:31:41.600 romance with Andrew Robinson Stoney was nothing more than a 0:31:41.760 --> 0:31:47.520 fabrication at her expense. But this was only the first 0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:51.560 stage of Stoney's plan, and now he was moving on 0:31:51.640 --> 0:31:56.560 to the second. He would ruin Mary Eleanor's life and 0:31:56.840 --> 0:32:00.800 take control of her fortune, exactly as he had done 0:32:00.920 --> 0:32:07.960 with his first wife, Hannah Brown. On the first anniversary 0:32:08.080 --> 0:32:13.920 of their wedding January seventeenth, seventeen seventy eight, Andrew Robinson 0:32:14.040 --> 0:32:18.240 Stoney told Mary Eleanor that he intended to make every 0:32:18.480 --> 0:32:22.920 day of her life more miserable than the last. Over 0:32:22.960 --> 0:32:26.000 the previous year, he had already been making good on 0:32:26.040 --> 0:32:31.280