Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. Just about
Speaker 1: halfway between Edinburgh and London, on the outskirts of the
Speaker 1: northern English city of Leeds sit an idyllic Palladian country
Speaker 1: manner known as Harewood House. Although I will say between
Speaker 1: the magnificently kept gardens and freshly manicured lawns decorating the
Speaker 1: thousand acre estate, the word house is really too modest
Speaker 1: a word to describe the Downton Abbey fantasy fever dream
Speaker 1: the property more closely resembles, especially considering Downton Abbey actually
Speaker 1: used Harewood House as a location to film the latest
Speaker 1: installment in their franchise. But should you decide to visit.
Speaker 1: If you venture beyond the estate's front doors and into
Speaker 1: one of the many drawing rooms, you might encounter a
Speaker 1: portrait whose subject doesn't quite aligne with the fairytale romance
Speaker 1: esthetic of the place. At first glance. Maybe nothing about
Speaker 1: the painting or the woman it depicts is notably out
Speaker 1: of the ordinary. If anything, the eye might be first
Speaker 1: drawn toward what the woman is wearing juxtaposed against a
Speaker 1: backdrop of muted brown foliage. The woman in the portrait,
Speaker 1: Lady Worsley, faces the viewer wearing a striking vermilion red
Speaker 1: riding habit and satin white kitten heels. She stands with
Speaker 1: her right foot peeking forward, her left hand perched on
Speaker 1: her hip, in a gesture that els intentional powerful. Even
Speaker 1: this is not a woman wearing bright red who shrinks
Speaker 1: into the background, especially not if the writing crop in
Speaker 1: her right hand has anything to say about it. The
Speaker 1: lapels and sleeve cuffs of her jacket are lined with
Speaker 1: a deep navy trim and white button detailing, akin to
Speaker 1: an eighteenth century British military uniform. It's an artistic choice
Speaker 1: which may on its own seem peculiar, but only until
Speaker 1: the viewer understands that this portrait is one in a
Speaker 1: set of two. There is a matching portrait of the
Speaker 1: woman's husband, Sir Richard Worsley, in a similar red British
Speaker 1: military uniform. But anyone coming to Harewood House in hopes
Speaker 1: of comparing the two paintings side by side will be
Speaker 1: sorely disappointed. In fact, the two paintings have not been
Speaker 1: in the same room in well over two hundred years,
Speaker 1: mirroring the dismal relationship of their real life counterparts. In truth,
Speaker 1: the primary reason anyone these days really remembers the woman
Speaker 1: in the portrait is because she was the subject of
Speaker 1: one of the most infamous sex scandals of the eighteenth century.
Speaker 1: The papers would accuse Lady Worsley of having sexual relations
Speaker 1: with upwards of twenty seven men, but it wasn't the
Speaker 1: men who caused the scandal so much as it was
Speaker 1: who had asked them to appear in court to testify
Speaker 1: in the first place. On this podcast, it's a rare
Speaker 1: day that I get to tell a story before the
Speaker 1: twentieth century, or frankly even after it, in which a
Speaker 1: woman has any sort of control over her own life.
Speaker 1: It's hard for women to hold any power in a
Speaker 1: society that essentially considered them property. But in the case
Speaker 1: of Lady Worsley, when her husband chose to sue her
Speaker 1: lover to attempt to bankrupt him, her husband could never
Speaker 1: have imagined that his wife would choose to rather orchestrate
Speaker 1: her own social ruin than watch him take even one
Speaker 1: more piece of happiness away from her. When looking at
Speaker 1: her portrait in Harewood House, it's easy to read into
Speaker 1: Lady Worsley's red dress and riding crop as cheap symbols
Speaker 1: of sexuality that perhaps further carved the metaphorical scarlet a
Speaker 1: into her legacy. But you can also see a woman
Speaker 1: dressed for battle, waiting for her moment. In her uniform.
Speaker 1: She faces the viewer head on the hand on her hip,
Speaker 1: almost challenging us, as if she's saying, if I'm going down,
Speaker 1: then I'm taking you down with me. I'm Dana Schwartz
Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. From an early age, it
Speaker 1: was clear Richard Worsley was never destined for greatness. The
Speaker 1: Worsley family may have owned the Epoldercombe estate in the
Speaker 1: Isle of Wight, but the Worsley name had long since
Speaker 1: slipped into social obscurity. They may have enjoyed political prominence
Speaker 1: sometime around the early seventeenth century, but by the mid
Speaker 1: eighteenth they were characterized as little more than a family
Speaker 1: of uncultured country bumpkins, another mindless vote for the Tory Party.
Speaker 1: One anonymous source described the family as quote never having
Speaker 1: been remarkable for producing either heroes or conjurors. It's an
Speaker 1: opinion which seemed to have extended to the newest baronet
Speaker 1: of Apaldcombe. As a teenager, Young Richard Worsley's schoolmates had
Speaker 1: taken to calling him Dick Tardy due to the lengths
Speaker 1: in which he consistently quote lagged so far behind, and
Speaker 1: unfortunately for him, it seemed as if this name would
Speaker 1: become a self fulfilling property. When it came time for
Speaker 1: him to court a wife. As is the case for
Speaker 1: most average men, Sir Richard Worsley was convinced he deserved
Speaker 1: nothing less than the absolute best, which is why in
Speaker 1: seventeen seventy two Worsley made it clear that he would
Speaker 1: make none other than Jane Fleming his wife by the
Speaker 1: year's end. If you're a fan of the net Show Bridgerton,
Speaker 1: Jane Fleming would have been what they described as the
Speaker 1: diamond of the season. The elder of the two daughters
Speaker 1: born to Sir John and Lady Jane Fleming, the younger
Speaker 1: Jane was a pinnacle of late eighteenth century femininity. Her delicate,
Speaker 1: almost ethereal beauty was only accentuated by the effortless grace
Speaker 1: she carried herself with, inspiring some to describe her as
Speaker 1: quote an ornament to her sex. The eager eyes of
Speaker 1: society gossips watched closely as she charmed her way through
Speaker 1: London's most elite circles. They were all keen to see
Speaker 1: exactly who would win over the coveted Jane Fleming, especially
Speaker 1: since rumor had it that her heart came with the
Speaker 1: attached incentive of a whopping seventy thousand pound inheritance. In reality,
Speaker 1: the Fleming sisters were each given an inheritance of about
Speaker 1: fifty two thousand pounds, but considering that translates to around
Speaker 1: sixty six million pounds to day, that's more than a
Speaker 1: sizeable amount for any bride in London society. In any case,
Speaker 1: Sir Richard Worsley had his heart set on Jane Fleming
Speaker 1: and was convinced he was quote to marry her in
Speaker 1: five months, or he would have had Jane Fleming been
Speaker 1: at all interested in accepting his proposal. Unfortunately, for our
Speaker 1: Dick Tardy, even after a summer spent flaunting his title
Speaker 1: and sizable fortune at the elder Fleming sister, his infatuation
Speaker 1: was decidedly one sided. But that didn't mean he would
Speaker 1: come away entirely empty handed. If Jane Fleming was the
Speaker 1: season's diamond then her younger sister, Seymour, was something more
Speaker 1: along the lines of courts. Where Jane was poise and grace,
Speaker 1: Seymour was blunt and unyielding, comparatively plain and not especially bookish.
Speaker 1: The younger Fleming daughter was once chastised for quote, possessing
Speaker 1: more forwardness than discretion, which earned her a reputation that
Speaker 1: may have proved entertaining at parties, but was decidedly less
Speaker 1: than desirable on the marriage market. In the end, Seymour
Speaker 1: may have been the less sparkly of the two sisters,
Speaker 1: but she did come with the same absurdly sized inheritance,
Speaker 1: a detail Sir Richard Worsley was all too aware of
Speaker 1: when he began courting the young Seymour just three years
Speaker 1: after his fixation on Jane, with one friend assessing that
Speaker 1: his interest was likely built upon the noblest foundations of quote,
Speaker 1: love and eighty thousand pounds. Their nuptials in September seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy five made them the talk of London's high society,
Speaker 1: but behind the closed doors of the Epuldercoma estate, the
Speaker 1: two were little more than strangers who occasionally shared a bed.
Speaker 1: Richard had budding political aspirations, meaning he often found himself
Speaker 1: traveling between London and his home on the Isle of Wight,
Speaker 1: leaving little time or energy to spend on his new wife.
Speaker 1: And yet, even with his sparse attentions, in August of
Speaker 1: the following year, Seymour managed to give Richard an air
Speaker 1: in the form of their son, Robert Edwin. And while
Speaker 1: the birth of their first child, a son, was a
Speaker 1: cause for celebration, it was also the final nail in
Speaker 1: the sexual coffin, so to say, for Richard and Seymour's marriage.
Speaker 1: With an air secured for the worsely line, the two
Speaker 1: had little reason to continue any of the extracurricular activities
Speaker 1: their marriage once required. Instead, Richard made himself busy with
Speaker 1: his political aspirations, and Seymour quickly found herself immersed in
Speaker 1: the height of London's late eighteenth century social scene, the
Speaker 1: Devonshire House Circle. Now, if you are a frequent listener
Speaker 1: of this podcast, you may remember our two part series
Speaker 1: on the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish and yes, I
Speaker 1: promise that is how she pronounced her name. But in
Speaker 1: case you need a recap, allow me to quickly summarize
Speaker 1: the ins and outs of the Duchess and her elite
Speaker 1: circle of friends. By the late seventeen seventies, approximately one
Speaker 1: hundred people made up the core of what was known
Speaker 1: as the Devonshire House Circle. The mixture of artists, politicians
Speaker 1: and aristocrats all gathered at Devonshire House for parties and
Speaker 1: political events under the guise of exchanging intelligent conversation, only
Speaker 1: to have most nights and in various stages of drunken debauchery,
Speaker 1: while several lifetimes worth of riches were inevitably lost to
Speaker 1: the gambling tables. But the circle was more than just
Speaker 1: a front for parading the latest fashions or campaigning for
Speaker 1: parliament behind closed doors. The prim and proper ladies and
Speaker 1: gentlemen of London's most titled houses used the circle as,
Speaker 1: let's say, a sexual playground. Within the Devonshire House Circle,
Speaker 1: affairs were almost commonplace, with partners essentially playing musical chairs
Speaker 1: to see whose bed they would be ending up in
Speaker 1: that evening. Adultery may have been illegal, but the Lazy
Speaker 1: fair Her attitude regarding sex and sexuality within the circle
Speaker 1: emboldened many to experiment with friends. It was a mentality
Speaker 1: which lent itself well to Seymour Worsley upon meeting her
Speaker 1: neighbor in the Isle of Wight, a man named Maurice
Speaker 1: George Bessett, at twenty three years old. Beset came to
Speaker 1: the Isle of Wight after he inherited the estate only
Speaker 1: four miles from the Worsley's, and he wasted no time
Speaker 1: in befriending the married couple. It's impossible to say exactly
Speaker 1: when the affair between Seymour and Beset began, but by
Speaker 1: the end of September seventeen eighty the pair had become inseparable. Richard,
Speaker 1: always looking to strengthen his political capital, often invited Beset
Speaker 1: to campaign events and parties at his home, and while
Speaker 1: her husband schmoozed his peers for political gain, Seymour took
Speaker 1: it upon herself to make sure that their newest acquaintance
Speaker 1: was well taken care of. Now, I think it's important
Speaker 1: to note that despite his unfortunate and hilarious nickname Dick Tardie,
Speaker 1: Richard Worsley wasn't an idiot. He may have had singular
Speaker 1: mind when it came to his political career, but he
Speaker 1: couldn't ignore the overwhelming attention that Besset gave his wife
Speaker 1: and vice versa, especially not when, despite the fact that
Speaker 1: he and his wife had not shared a bed for months,
Speaker 1: there was an unmistakable swell to Seymour's stomach in the
Speaker 1: early months of seventeen eighty one. There are, of course,
Speaker 1: a number of reactions one might have when discovering one's
Speaker 1: wife is pregnant with another man's child, anger, separation, exile.
Speaker 1: By eighteenth century standards, any of those would have been
Speaker 1: considered acceptable consequences to an illegitimate pregnancy, But Richard Worsley,
Speaker 1: generous man that he was, chose instead to give his
Speaker 1: wife's lover a job, specifically a captain's commission for the
Speaker 1: Southampton Militia, a position which conveniently meant he would be
Speaker 1: traveling with him and his wife for the majority of
Speaker 1: the following year as they visited encampments of soldiers training
Speaker 1: to be sent overseas. The fact that Worsley was not
Speaker 1: only willing to pass the child off as his own,
Speaker 1: but then secured besets, travel and lodgings during his travels
Speaker 1: with his wife residing within the same home as him
Speaker 1: and Seymour, gives us a pretty good idea that he
Speaker 1: knew about the affair. It would be during that summer
Speaker 1: that not only the Devonshire House circle, but also Worsley's
Speaker 1: own staff would be watching the three with barely disguised fascination,
Speaker 1: questioning exactly how their dynamic worked behind closed doors. But
Speaker 1: come fall, when the rain and chilling autumn weather made
Speaker 1: it impossible to continue their travels, the happy little bubble
Speaker 1: that the trio had been living in that summer abruptly popped.
Speaker 1: For Worsley, the departure from the militia affected him very little.
Speaker 1: He had his political aspirations to keep him occupied. But
Speaker 1: for Seymour and Beset, the two lovers, who had grown
Speaker 1: accustomed to waking up under the same roof and spending
Speaker 1: time together as a new family with their newborn daughter,
Speaker 1: the new distant between them proved to be too much.
Speaker 1: After barely more than a month of separation, Beset unveiled
Speaker 1: his plan to Seymour, and on the evening of November nineteenth,
Speaker 1: seventeen eighty one, the two rode off into the night
Speaker 1: to Elope, throwing caution to the wind and hoping that
Speaker 1: come morning Richard Worsley would not stand in their way.
Speaker 1: While he may have been all right with his wife's
Speaker 1: adultery under his own roof, Worsley apparently took issue with
Speaker 1: his wife and her lover, running off to a lope
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night. After the no doubt
Speaker 1: initial wave of rage had passed and he was no
Speaker 1: longer banging down the doors of every residence he thought
Speaker 1: his wife might be in, Worsley sat down to consider
Speaker 1: his next steps. Now, before we go any further into
Speaker 1: this story, I want to take a second to explain
Speaker 1: the illegal act known as quote criminal conversation. For those
Speaker 1: of you who don't spend your free time looking up
Speaker 1: eighteenth century legal terminology, criminal conversation or crim con if
Speaker 1: you're cool and in the know, is essentially legal catch
Speaker 1: all term for crimes of adultery, as women in this
Speaker 1: time were still seen as all but property in the
Speaker 1: eyes of the law. If a wife cheated on her husband,
Speaker 1: he could then act as a plaintiff and sue his
Speaker 1: wife's lover for would basically boil down to property damage
Speaker 1: and they say romance is dead. Well, Richard Worsley, now
Speaker 1: stewing in his estate alone following the betrayal of his wife,
Speaker 1: and what he had considered to be his best friend,
Speaker 1: who he had been nothing but generous to. Saw no
Speaker 1: other option than to take legal action in order to
Speaker 1: take back what he saw as rightfully his. During this time,
Speaker 1: typical criminal conversation cases could ask the defendant for anything
Speaker 1: from ten to fifteen thousand pounds in damages, but Worsley
Speaker 1: was determined to teach Besset and his wife a lesson.
Speaker 1: When Beset was served his papers, he was horrified to
Speaker 1: find Worsely was suing him for twenty thousand pounds, the
Speaker 1: equivalent of more than two point five million pounds to day.
Speaker 1: Faced with a future of debtors prison, or life on
Speaker 1: the run, Seymour and Beset were forced to rethink their options.
Speaker 1: Seymour's sizeable inheritance now belonged to her husband, and should
Speaker 1: he lose this case, without Beset to support her, she
Speaker 1: would be left all but destitute. There were more than
Speaker 1: enough witnesses to confirm their affair, but Seymour was done
Speaker 1: letting her husband dictate her happiness, and so, with nothing
Speaker 1: but pen and paper, Seymour decided that if her husband
Speaker 1: was set to blow up her life, she was going
Speaker 1: to give herself the pleasure of striking the match to
Speaker 1: do it. On the warning of February twenty first, seventeen
Speaker 1: eighty two, the Worsley verse Beset trial began in Earnest.
Speaker 1: Worsley's team predictably came forward with overwhelming evidence of Beset
Speaker 1: and Seymour's affair, but to the prosecution's surprise, the defense
Speaker 1: didn't seem at all bothered by their impending loss. It
Speaker 1: was only when Beset and Seymour's fate seemed all but
Speaker 1: sealed that the defense came forward with their actual strategy.
Speaker 1: With what I imagine to be a smug glint in
Speaker 1: his eye, the lead defense lawyer turned to the court
Speaker 1: and unveiled the defense's secret weapon, the defamation of Lady
Speaker 1: Seymour Worsley. He began, quote, the licentious conduct of Lady
Speaker 1: Worsley was so notorious that it had been the subject
Speaker 1: of common conversation. Ladies of distinction in the Isle of
Speaker 1: Wight had frequently remonstrated with Sir Richard on the subject,
Speaker 1: and told him that if he did not attempt to
Speaker 1: restrain her conduct, her character would be ruined and destroyed.
Speaker 1: And quote. It was with this framework that the defense
Speaker 1: finally laid out their argument in the defense's estimation Richard
Speaker 1: Worsley had been adequately warned to contain his wife's lewd behavior,
Speaker 1: but refused to do so because quote Lady Worsley liked it.
Speaker 1: But not only did the defense accuse Richard Worsley of
Speaker 1: allowing his wife to live her life of depravity, but
Speaker 1: they went on to accuse her of consorting with quote
Speaker 1: many prior connections, so many quote connections in fact, that
Speaker 1: quote the idea of seduction by the present defendant was
Speaker 1: totally done away. In essence, the defense was rather than
Speaker 1: attempt to defend the overwhelming evidence of Beset and Seymour's affair,
Speaker 1: they would seek to prove that Lady Worsley had taken
Speaker 1: so many lovers over the course of her and Sir
Speaker 1: Richard Worsley's marriage that there was no feasible way that
Speaker 1: the damages incurred by their elopement could be equal to
Speaker 1: twenty thousand pounds. It was then that the defense called
Speaker 1: the first of their requested twenty seven witnesses up to
Speaker 1: the stand, and Richard Worsley began to see his undoing.
Speaker 1: The first witness was a gentleman named George William Coventry,
Speaker 1: also known as the Viscount Deerhurst. The Viscount first became
Speaker 1: acquainted with the Worsleys in the fall of seventeen seventy nine,
Speaker 1: following the unexpected passing of his wife. Viscount Dearhurst was inconsolable,
Speaker 1: that is, until he was introduced to the baronet and
Speaker 1: his wife. It was at this point that Sir Richard
Speaker 1: Worsley was undoubtedly sweating in his seat, for he knew
Speaker 1: exactly which bombshell the defense was about to lay on
Speaker 1: the courtroom floor. Upon visiting their estate in the Isle
Speaker 1: of Wight, the Viscount recalled a conversation he had with
Speaker 1: Worsley in which he made him an unforgettable proposition in
Speaker 1: regards to his wife. He did then say that many
Speaker 1: young men had tried her to no effect, and that
Speaker 1: I had his permission to try my chance with her
Speaker 1: end quote. Chaos rippled in whispers throughout the courtroom as
Speaker 1: the gravity of this statement sank in and the truth
Speaker 1: about Sir Richard Worsley's sexual proclivities began to come to light.
Speaker 1: Even though shared and his wife Seymour, had not shared
Speaker 1: a bed in years, Richard found sexual pleasure in their
Speaker 1: marriage by watching seymour bed. Other men remember how Worsley
Speaker 1: was fine with Seymour and Beset having their affair so
Speaker 1: long as it was under his roof. Well, Besett was
Speaker 1: hardly the first when it came to that peculiar arrangement.
Speaker 1: According to the Viscount, at first he thought it was
Speaker 1: a joke, and Quote took it in a laugh. Eventually, though,
Speaker 1: during his stay at Appoldercombe, Viscount Deerhurst did find his
Speaker 1: way into Seymour's bed, only to find a most unexpected
Speaker 1: surprise when he ventured out of her bedchamber in the
Speaker 1: early hours of the morning. Being careful so as to
Speaker 1: not wake the rest of the house, the Viscount stumbled
Speaker 1: into none other than Sir Richard Worsley himself. The Viscount
Speaker 1: recalled quote, he found me in her dressing chamber adjacent
Speaker 1: to her bed chamber at four o'clock in the morning,
Speaker 1: at which point he remembered Worsley scrambling saying, Dearhurst, how
Speaker 1: came you here? It's likely that from Seymour's dressing room,
Speaker 1: Worsley was watching the Viscount and his wife through the keyhole,
Speaker 1: if not simply deriving his pleasure from the unmistakable sounds
Speaker 1: that must have been coming from the other side of
Speaker 1: the door. I want to be clear, I do not
Speaker 1: mean to kink shame anyone. Whatever fully consenting adults decide
Speaker 1: to do behind closed doors is entirely their business. But
Speaker 1: in the case of Richard Worsley trying to cash out
Speaker 1: twenty thousand pounds for an act he himself derived sexual
Speaker 1: pleasure from and convinced his friends to take pardon because
Speaker 1: it then later resulted in the more public humiliation of
Speaker 1: his wife leaving him doesn't seem exactly above board. As
Speaker 1: they say, a stupid game's win stupid prizes. The next
Speaker 1: witness for the defense was not a former lover, but
Speaker 1: Seymour's personal physician, doctor William Osbourne. Like the majority of
Speaker 1: the twenty seven witnesses Seymour called to slander her own reputation,
Speaker 1: Osbourne was hesitant to give his testimony. After all, he
Speaker 1: was a doctor and the privacy between a physician and
Speaker 1: his patients was of the utmost importance, and with such
Speaker 1: a high profile case being covered in the gossip rags
Speaker 1: for all of London to see, he had his own
Speaker 1: client base to think about. But Seymour was clear in
Speaker 1: her letter to quote, make a point of attending and
Speaker 1: declare everything you know of me end quote, which in
Speaker 1: the end is exactly what he did. When asked why
Speaker 1: he had been summoned in August seventeen eighty, the doctor replied, quote,
Speaker 1: Lady Worsley had some complaints on her which I fancy
Speaker 1: were the consequence of a veneerial disorder. What was most
Speaker 1: interesting about this diagnosis was that it was Seymour who
Speaker 1: had employed the doctor's services for treatment, not Richard Worsley. Additionally,
Speaker 1: Richard was not treated for the same or any venereal disorder.
Speaker 1: The final witness was, despite their low societal position, perhaps
Speaker 1: the most important for the defense. Mary Marriott was a
Speaker 1: bathing woman who worked in Maidstone, one of the places Seymour,
Speaker 1: Besett and Richard Worsley had stayed during their blissful summer
Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty one. It was there that Mary Marriott
Speaker 1: witnessed the moment that would prove to ultimately be Sir
Speaker 1: Richard Worsley's downfall. According to the bathing woman, she had
Speaker 1: seen Seymour, Beset and Worsley more than once, as Seymour
Speaker 1: used to come to the bathhouse and the men would
Speaker 1: usually accompany her. The men would typically stand outside as
Speaker 1: she bathed, but on one occasion, as Seymour began to
Speaker 1: get dressed after her bath, Mary witnessed something quite different.
Speaker 1: A knock at the door alerted the undressed Seymour and
Speaker 1: the bathing woman too, Richard at the door, who excitedly
Speaker 1: told his wife Seymour, Seymour, Beset is going to get
Speaker 1: up to look at you. Moments later, from a high window,
Speaker 1: George Bessett was seen smiling down at the two women.
Speaker 1: This alone was rather damning, but the window in question
Speaker 1: was so close to the room's ceiling that it would
Speaker 1: have been impossible for Beset to have reached it to
Speaker 1: look down at the scene without assistance, meaning Richard Worsley
Speaker 1: gave him a boost, likely having him sit on his
Speaker 1: shoulders in order for Beset to get a better view.
Speaker 1: With this final piece of evidence, after an hour of deliberation,
Speaker 1: the jury finally came to a verdict. With the irrefutable
Speaker 1: evidence presented by the prosecution, Maurice George Bessett was found
Speaker 1: guilty of his adultery, but when the court read out
Speaker 1: what Worsley should be owed in damages for his wife's virtue,
Speaker 1: it was not twenty thousand pounds, for they felt the
Speaker 1: evidence told them what his wife's virtue was worth one shilling,
Speaker 1: And with the strike of a gavel, Seymour bested her
Speaker 1: husband and in turn ruined her own life. Quote Your
Speaker 1: ladyship has not only proved yourself an utter enemy to
Speaker 1: all amorous monopoly, but to every species of smuggling whatever.
Speaker 1: For your wares have always been laid open to every
Speaker 1: fair trader, and as fairly entered in the custom house
Speaker 1: of Venus end. Quote this passage from a satire titled
Speaker 1: The Whim or the Maidstone Bath, And I'd like to
Speaker 1: point out that there are three exclamation points after the word. Whim.
Speaker 1: Was just one of the many cutting pieces written about
Speaker 1: Seymour Worsley's character following the verdict of what would come
Speaker 1: to be known as one of the most notorious criminal
Speaker 1: conversation trials of the eighteenth century. Predictably, even though she
Speaker 1: technically won the case against her husband in terms of revenge,
Speaker 1: Seymour was cast out as a social pariah amongst London society.
Speaker 1: Even the Devonshire House Circle, known for their sexual liberty,
Speaker 1: couldn't condone the presence of such scandal amongst their ranks.
Speaker 1: They did, after all, have the good sent not to
Speaker 1: air their dirty laundry for the whole of England to see.
Speaker 1: To make matters. In the ultimate petty move, even in
Speaker 1: the wake of his humiliation in court, Worsley refused to
Speaker 1: grant Seymour a divorce. This meant that not only could
Speaker 1: she not move on with her life and marry Bessett,
Speaker 1: but her inheritance continue to remain in the hands of
Speaker 1: her husband, and Bissett, with his name dragged through the
Speaker 1: mud and his property in the Isle of Wight, his
Speaker 1: only feasible legacy, needed to have a wife to bear
Speaker 1: legitimate children, and so, barely a year after she had
Speaker 1: committed herself to social ruin and life as a pariah
Speaker 1: in high society, George Bissett left Seymour in seventeen eighty three,
Speaker 1: after being abandoned by her lover and vehemently refusing to
Speaker 1: return to her husband. Seymour was forced to live off
Speaker 1: the meager stipend her marriage provided her. Even then through
Speaker 1: the years, she would ultimately have to take on lovers
Speaker 1: who could care for her financially in order to keep
Speaker 1: her debt collectors at Bay. It wouldn't be until eighteen
Speaker 1: oh five, when Richard Worsley died, that Seymour would at
Speaker 1: long last be granted her freedom. At the age of
Speaker 1: forty seven, Seymour finally gained back her inheritance and took
Speaker 1: back her maiden name Fleming. After years of living under
Speaker 1: the thumb of a man she despised, and free to
Speaker 1: live her life as she chose, Seymour Fleming decided to
Speaker 1: celebrate her newfound freedom by marrying her lover, a twenty
Speaker 1: six year old Swiss musician named John Louis Hummel. You
Speaker 1: have to admire a woman who, after over two decades
Speaker 1: of being labeled as a harlot by high society, goes
Speaker 1: and marries a man twenty one years her junior at
Speaker 1: the first opportunity, which brings us back to the portraits
Speaker 1: of the woman in red at Harewood House. History likes
Speaker 1: to remember Seymour Fleming in the context of her infidelity,
Speaker 1: but in looking at her portrait, you can't help but
Speaker 1: look into the face of the woman behind it. The woman,
Speaker 1: upon knowing that she was damned, decided to pick up
Speaker 1: a pen and paper and prove to the world that
Speaker 1: no one but she would determine her worth. That was
Speaker 1: the scandalous life of Seymour Fleming. But stick around after
Speaker 1: the sponsor break to hear a little bit more about
Speaker 1: Seymour's second marriage after the death of her first husband.
Speaker 1: It seems counterintuitive that Seymour Fleming would be so willing
Speaker 1: to jump into another marriage so soon after winning back
Speaker 1: her inheritance and made a name. Well, as it turns out,
Speaker 1: she would not have to part with the latter. In fact,
Speaker 1: the twenty six year old Swiss musician John Louis Hummel
Speaker 1: ended up taking Seymour's last name, becoming John Louie Fleming.
Speaker 1: The two remained happily married until Seymour's death in eighteen
Speaker 1: eighteen at the age of sixty. John Louis kept his
Speaker 1: late wife's name even when he decided to remarry a
Speaker 1: year and a half after her death. Together, he and
Speaker 1: his new wife had a daughter, who they named Ceserene Fleming.
Speaker 1: Many speculated that the younger man married Seymour for her inheritance,
Speaker 1: but even after her death, John Louis Fleming continued to
Speaker 1: honor her legacy, and when he finally passed in eighteen
Speaker 1: thirty six. His final request was to be buried next
Speaker 1: to his quote, dearly beloved wife, Lady Seymour Plumbing. Noble
Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
Speaker 1: from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danis Schwartz.
Speaker 1: Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,
Speaker 1: Mira Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The show is
Speaker 1: produced by rima il Kaali, with supervising producer Josh Thaine
Speaker 1: and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
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