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A scandalous child of the Regency

The story is true, even if it sounds as if it's snatched from the supermarket tabloids.

Maria Emilia Fagnani (1771-1856), known to her friends as Mie-Mie, was the daughter of Costanza, wife of Marchese Giacomo Il Fagnani. 

While traveling, Costanza and her husband met Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. Costanza began an affair with Pembroke and returned to England with him in 1769. There she met William Douglas, Earl of March, who managed to be both one of the richest men in England and a notorious gambler, and shortly began an affair with him.

Opposites Attract: A True Love Story

Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford, wasn’t a rake, one of those smooth-talking charmers who populate romance novels. He was more of a frat boy.

Born in 1811, he inherited the title in 1826 after the untimely deaths of his older brother and his father.  He was still a student at Eton, where his exploits brought him notoriety. The headmaster at the time was John Keate, noted for having restored discipline to the school through liberal use of the birch, of which Waterford had experience. 

Just the beginning

Every now and then, an idea pops into my head—a scene or a bit of dialogue. I don't have any plans for it at the moment, but it keeps nagging at me until I have to write it down. This is one such scene. It may some day turn into a book, but where the story goes from here, I have no idea.

 

Lady Wilcoxin peered at her niece nervously. “You do see that the best thing will be for you to marry Mr. Burgundy.”

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