England's Mistress_ The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton - Kate Williams [111]
Emma's daughter had to find out about her mother through the fashion magazines. The dresses at the English royal birthday galas throughout 1794 and 1795 were "á la Emma": white satin crepe and petticoats, simple drapery, and gold headbands, while the fashionable hairstyle was a simple arrangement of curls around the head. Rehberg's book of Emma's Attitudes had become a fashion magazine. As one journalist reported in 1796, by "following the style of dress, and the arrangement of drapery, in the fine remains of antiquity, the present taste has happily emancipated the ladies from the ridiculous lumber of the late fashions, from powder, whalebone and cork, flounces and furbelows."4 Even actual items were named after Emma's favorite poses: a special "Iphigenia Veil" was very popular, as were "Minerva Lapels."5 In 1795, the Lady's Magazine fashion reporter described how Emma's outfit, as in the Romney portrait Emma Hart in Morning Dress, had become the latest look: a bonnet of black velvet over hair combed into light curls, a full cravat around the neck, and a black satin cloak.6 The Bacchante of Emma running with a dog, infamous because everybody knew Greville commissioned it in an attempt to foist Emma onto Sir William, was finally engraved from Romney's private copy, in which Emma's left breast was almost entirely exposed. Prints were soon selling wildly.
Hackwriters and popular novelists continued to work Emma into their fanciful narratives. A magazine serial "The Adventures of Emma," published in 1796, tells the story of a wholesome country girl who "blended the artless simplicity of rural life with the more refined sentiments of cultivated education" and succeeds in marrying her much more aristocratic lover after she proves herself by escaping seduction.7 The real Emma, however, had come a long way from such a sentimental representation. She was an active participant in the turbulent politics of the Neapolitan court. As she boasted to Greville, her situation there was "very extraordinary & what no person as yet arrived at."
In 1795 Emma turned thirty and the Palazzo Sessa became a hothouse for spies. Charles of Spain, King Ferdinand's brother, was considering an alliance with France, and he was secretly trying to encourage Ferdinand to join him. But the queen had not softened toward the French as the "murderers of my sister and the royal family" who have "put poniard and poison into the hands of all classes and peoples against legitimate authority." The British navy, however, was overstretched and the government was increasingly preoccupied with defending its own territories in the Mediterranean. They suggested Naples make peace with France.
Emma made almost daily trips to the palace, carrying letters and news or introducing diplomats and dignitaries. Her task was complex: along with John Acton and the small pro-English faction at court, she promised to the apprehensive queen that the British were trustworthy and could protect them. At the same time, she was trying to persuade the British government, by means of letters and strong hints to visiting diplomats, that if they did not make a commitment, then Naples might well unite with Spain. She vouched that if Naples partnered with the English, Ferdinand and Maria Carolina would fulfill the terms of the treaty.8 She was also gathering information for her home government. Maria Carolina gave Emma information about King Charles's plans from her spies in Spain, and Emma was able to send to England copies of signed letters from the King of Spain to Ferdinand in which he confirmed he would ally with the French.9 She wrote to Greville, "We have been 3 days 7 nights writing to send by this courier letters of consequence for our government. They ought to be gratefull to Sir William & myself in particular."
The British government recognized that Maria Carolina was a vital source of information, and employed Emma to mediate between her and their visiting