England's Mistress_ The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton - Kate Williams [149]
Sir William added he was "well aware of the danger that would attend the prince's frequenting our house," not because he thought Emma might "ever be induced to act contrary to the prudent conduct she has hitherto pursued" but for fear that the newspapers might misinterpret her hospitality. His is a remarkable letter: a husband writes to his wife's lover, assuring him that she is being faithful. It shows how much the tria iuncta in uno depended on each other. When he remarked that "the world is so ill-natured that the worst construction is put upon the most innocent actions," he implied Nelson was being similarly unfair.
Around February 23, a very remorseful Nelson wrote to Emma that, writing as Mr. Thompson, he had "forgot all his ill health, and all his mortifications and sorrows, in the thought that he will soon bury them all in your dear, dear bosom." He declared, "I daresay twins will again be the fruit of your & his meeting. The thought is too much to bear. Have the thatched cottage ready to receive him, & I will answer that he would not give it up for a queen and a palace." The "thatched cottage" was his pet name for her genitalia, while "twins" was a sexual joke—the act of intercourse was sometimes described as being "twinned." Nelson was fond of Shakespeare and often recited entire passages, and he was perhaps thinking of the line in Othello where sexual intercourse is the "beast with two backs." Sorry at having hurt her, Nelson anticipated a night in bed together.
On the same day as he wrote to Emma to prepare the "thatched cottage," Nelson was given leave to return home. Traveling through the night by carriage to reach 23 Piccadilly by 7 a.m., he hurried to Emma's arms. King George was ill, and the attention of the press was—briefly—diverted from celebrity watching. Dreading a recommencement of Fanny's campaign for his attention, he wrote to command her to remain in Brighton. She dared not disobey him. He stayed at Lothian's Hotel in Albemarle Street, and Emma introduced him to Horatia at Mrs. Gibson's in Maryle-bone. Nelson fell in love with his infant daughter on the spot, rhapsodizing, “A finer Child never was produced by any two persons, it was in truth a love begotten Child.” He decided, “She is in the upper part of her face so like her dear good mother,” and burbled, “If it is like its mother it will be very handsome…. I think her one, aye, the most beautiful woman of the age.”
CHAPTER 41
Precious Jewels
The excited new father returned to his ship at Yarmouth bubbling with happiness. "My own Dear Wife for such you are in my Eyes and in the face of heaven," he wrote,
there is nothing in this World that I would not do for us to live together and to have our dear little Child with us. I firmly believe that this Campaign will give us peace and then we will sett off for Bronte, in 12 hours we shall be across the Water, and freed from all the nonsense of his friends or rather pretended ones… it would bring 100 of tongues and slanderous reports, if I separated from her which I would do with pleasure the moment we can be united. I want to see her no more. Therefore we must manage till we can quit this Country, or your Uncle dies.
They were still dreaming that they would soon be able to return to Sicily and live in bliss on his estate at Bronte. "I never did love anyone else," he promised. He was already quivering with anticipation for his next home leave: "My longing for you, both person and conversation,