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Editor’s Note: Recipients of the special edition Muse (given out at both the BSI dinner and the Baskerville Bash) were asked to answer the following query: Which woman in the Canon (other than The Woman, Irene Adler) most exemplifies the Adventuress spirit? Susan Vizoskie, our winner, will receive a $30 gift certificate for the bookstore of her choice. Our runner‑up was Joe Moran with the somewhat unique choice of St. Monica. He commented: “...the best reason for nominating St. Monica is to be found in the recent news, which tells us how her namesake has achieved prominence today by her ability to cause such great consternation for a prominent male caught with his pants down!”

Georgiana, the Coquettish Duchess of Devonshire:

Adjective or Adventuress

by Susan Vizoskie

Mentioned as merely an adjective in IDEN, the real Duchess of Devonshire is the woman in the Canon who best exemplifies the Adventuress spirit. Lady Georgiana Spencer of Althorp (1757‑1806), exceedingly tall, beautiful, and gregarious, fell in love with one of the most eligible bachelors in England, William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire (1748‑1811). Prevailing against her parents’ wishes for a lengthier engagement, she married him just before her seventeenth birthday.

In London, the Cavendishes lived in Devonshire House just off Piccadilly. Georgiana breathed fresh air into London society (or perhaps pumped fresh blood would be more accurate), and soon she held the salon, entertaining Sheridan, Samuel Johnson, and others who described her with superlatives as they commented on her beauty, grace, charm, and wit. She was reputed to be the model for one of the characters in Sheridan’s A School for Scandal, and her portraits by Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds still survive at Chatsworth, the family country estate. Georgiana was legendary for gambling (and excessive losses) and setting fashion trends. The size and glamour of her cartwheel hats alone qualify her as an adventuress supreme!

The Cavendish household was a tad unorthodox. They “adopted” Lady Elizabeth Foster, an English woman who had been abandoned by her husband. Georgiana and Elizabeth became best friends, and the Duke and Elizabeth became best “friends” also. The Duke and Duchess had two daughters and, finally, in 1790, a son, William Spencer. The Duke and Lady Elizabeth had two children, a daughter and, also in 1790, a son (who was a few weeks older than the Duke‑ling). Although Lady Elizabeth spent her pregnancies abroad and her children were raised abroad, Georgiana knew about the relationship and the children and continued to regard Elizabeth as her best friend.

In 1791, the Duchess had an affair (and a child in 1792) with Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey (yes, the Earl Grey of tea renown). The Duke demanded that Georgiana spend the pregnancy in Europe (where else?), and Georgiana demanded that her best friend Lady Elizabeth accompany her. In any case, Elizabeth couldn’t properly remain in the Duke’s household if the Duchess were away. What would Society say?

From 1795 until her death in 1806, Georgiana suffered from serious illness. Knowing her death was imminent, she wrote each of her children, reminding them of her love and her hopes for their happiness and giving her final advice to be wiser financially than she had been and to give happiness to others. Georgiana was mourned by the Duke, her children, and Lady Elizabeth. (And, yes, the Duke did marry Lady Elizabeth in 1809.) Years later, William Spencer, the 6th Duke, while extensively remodeling and refurbishing Devonshire House, refused to alter his mother’s apartments, wishing to preserve her rooms just as she had left them.

And so, dear readers, I propose Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire as the woman in the Canon who best exemplifies the Adventuress spirit. She was far more than a fashion adjective. Strong of character, she followed her own heart and mind; she was beautiful, witty, and charming (as, of course, are all Adventuresses). She was loving and beloved, and she valued friends and friendship. She lived her shortened life with zest and joie de vivre!

Author’s note: Georgiana was an ancestor of the late Princess Diana... same Spencer family and country estate. In 1897, Devonshire House was the site of a lavish costume ball given to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, hosted by the 8th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Duchess of Devonshire, The House: Living at Chatsworth. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982, pp. 13‑77.

Foss, Arthur, The Dukes of Britain. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986, pp. 6‑12, 61‑72.

Pearson, John, The Serpent and the Stag: The Saga of England’s Powerful and Glamorous Cavendish Family from the Age of Henry the Eighth to the Present. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983, pp. 122‑203.

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