The Scandalous Lady W Page #3

he is a privy counsellor and

governor of the Isle of Wight.

Mr Bisset, as he was commonly known,

became friends with the plaintiff

at the time of his election

to the House of Commons

and the greatest intimacy grew

between them there after.

Indeed, Sir Richard gave the defendant

a commission in his regiment.

The defendant had the confidence

and trust of the plaintiff,

both in friendship, as neighbours

and in military matters

until, that is, the unhappy

event took place.

The court calls Hannah Commander.

'Did they desire you to

prepare any bedchamber?'

'Yes, as near to the dining room

as possibly could be, sir. '

And what else do you recall?

Captain Bisset

as I didn't know him then for I took

him for her ladyship's husband.

- He was a scoundrel, sir.

- A scoundrel you say?

A proper mutton monger. He give

me a crown for my silence, sir.

- A mutton monger?

- Yes, sir. A mutton monger.

Will you kindly endeavour to

speak in respectful English?

I've kept the crown, my lord.

And how long did they stay?

For four or five days, sir.

And how did they pass?

As man and wife, sir.

But they was not a man and wife, sir,

and the state of the bedchamber,

sir, and the bedding, sir.

- Had they only one bed?

- Yes, my lord.

And they was at it under the sheets

when I came into the bedchamber

and they was naked, my lord, at one

o'clock in the afternoon as well.

How do you know who they were?

Because she answered to the

name of Lady Worsley, sir.

It was her.

The court calls Mary Sotheby.

Do you solemnly swear by almighty

God that the evidence

you shall give to the

court will be the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I was awoken at midnight, sir,

and asked to do my lady's bidding.

That is all.

You were privy and party

to this debauchery, madam.

Yes, you were privy and party to

the desertion of Sir Richard Worsley

- and his infant daughter.

- I was not, sir.

Pray tell me,

how old was the infant Jane

at the time of this most

heartless desertion?

She was four months old.

And yet you conspired to abduct the

infant from her father and her home.

Oh, you appear entirely

deficient of any morality.

Or of conscious, or of any

loyalty at all to your master.

Why, my lord, these are crocodile tears.

My lady only loves Captain Bisset.

Love?

And my lady loves her

daughter Jane dearly.

Then why, madam, did you lady desert her?

The court calls Captain Leversuch.

Do you recollect Captain Bisset

and Lady Worsley at a party

together which met at your house

the very night of the elopement?

Yes, my lord, I recall it

with the utmost clarity.

Captain Bisset played the

piano for our entertainment.

Bravo!

They make quite a pair, wouldn't you say?

It does your husband much credit

that he is no Othello.

They are so dear to me,

so very dear to me.

What lady could be more fortunate

to have a husband of such distinction

and a friend of such

devotion to both of us?

And Sir Richard is the best

and most generous kind of man.

I dare say I thought no such

friendship could exist.

Oh, I've a terrible migraine.

Ale afflicts me so.

Sir, that is the claret.

Oh...

He is often afflicted with the migraine

and none so often as in the bedchamber.

You are wicked, madam. You are wicked.

Why is it wicked, sir, to

laugh and speak the truth?

Pope is a duddering ninny who

was fool enough to fall in love

with a woman who did not love him

and who was far his superior

in every respect.

I am familiar with the predicament, sir.

But most cruel.

It is said that Lady Montagu laughed

at Pope as he unfolded his heart.

It is a cold heart that's not

moved by the tragic beauty

of Pope's two lovers stuck by lightning.

Pope's work does not compare to the

verses of Lady Montagu herself.

"The man who feels the dear disease,

"Forgets himself, neglects to please. "

Well, Pope is the greatest

poet that's ever lived.

I know they find me a terrible

bore, Mrs Leversuch,

but what I am to do but be myself?

Huh?

I'll see you out.

I cannot spend another

week in his company.

Then why do we not leave tonight?

Do you mean it, George?

I do but if you want

to go, we must go now.

And what of Jane?

We cannot take the child tonight,

the risk is too great.

- I cannot leave without her,

George. - Then we cannot go.

Listen to reason, Seymour.

If we take the child tonight,

he will know that we are leaving

and he will never allow that.

What are you two lovebirds

twittering over?

We must send word to

Mary, she can bring Jane

and all my belongings in the morning

to us and send word to Deerhurst.

Goodnight, my dears. Goodnight!

And you had no knowledge of this affair?

No.

I heard not a whisper, my lord,

of any relationship of that kind

between Lady Worsley and Captain Bisset.

And did Sir Richard Worsley know

of this adulterous relationship

- prior to the elopement?

- No, none at all, my lord.

He remained quite in

the dark as did we all.

Captain Bisset is a deceitful scoundrel

and myself and Mrs Leversuch are

entirely innocent of any knowledge

or involvement in this

most sordid elopement.

My lord,

far from being ignorant of Lady

Worsley's intimate friendship

with Captain Bisset,

Sir Richard Worsley openly

encouraged it, indeed, my lord,

intimate relations between a great

many gentlemen and ladies of rank

in the Southampshire Militia

were common knowledge.

Sir...

are you truthfully giving

evidence to this court

that you had no indication at all

that Lady Worsley and Captain

Bisset were, shall we say,

intimate friends?

No, sir.

And if I may say, my lord, I

was and remain deeply shocked

and alarmed by this whole affair

and if I may also say, my lord,

Sir Richard and Lady Worsley

were very happily married

and until she made the

acquaintance of Captain Bisset,

she always did her husband's bidding.

Thank you, Captain Leversuch,

that will be all.

How is it just that Richard

can paint such a false picture

of our marriage?

- Something must be done.

- Madam, what is to be done?

Captain Bisset is plainly proven

to be guilty of adultery.

We have put doubt in the

jury's mind as to whether

Sir Richard knew that the

relations between you were

established before the

elopement and perhaps...

the compensation could be

reduced, by half, to 10,000.

We have no means to pay

such compensation, sir.

10,000 and George still

ends up in the fleet.

And I... will never see my love again.

Where the adultery is proven,

the defendant cooperates fully

in all of society, that

is what is expected.

Now, the scandal is reduced by default.

Why can I not tell the whole truth?

Madam?

I am not worth 20,000.

- No, Lady Worsley...

- What if he may prove that

I was not worth 20,000 long

before I met Captain Bisset?

George would need not confess to anything.

But you would.

How so, madam?

I know what you're considering doing.

Seymour, you have already lost much.

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