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By Root 1456 0

mansion and grounds in which he could play at being a country squire. It also had to be comfortably furnished, situated on a good road to London, and not too expensive. "I am very anxious for a house and I have nobody to do any business for me but you, my dear friend," he chivvied. Emma was enthused by the responsibility of choosing a house, and by August 1 he authorized her to buy one she had seen at Turnham Green. The newspapers followed her efforts—the Times reported that during an outing to Harrow with Sir William's relation, the Marquis of Abercorn, the horses tipped Emma and the Machioness into a hedge.2 On the fifteenth, she was considering another property in Chiswick. At the same time, Nelson led an attack on Boulogne that ended in disaster: no French boats were taken and 44 English sailors were left dead, with 128 wounded. Although Nelson had brushed off criticism of the Battle of Copenhagen, he knew that his attack on Boulogne had been a terrible failure. He sailed back to Deal, on the Kent coast, deeply depressed, begging his friends to come and comfort him.

Emma had good news for him. She had spotted what she thought could be their dream home in the village of Merton in Surrey, southwest of London, now a suburb of Wimbledon. Inhabited by an elderly lady for years, Merton Place had fallen into terrible disrepair. All the rooms needed modernizing, the land was uncultivated, and there was no stabling or coach house. The horrified surveyor judged it "the worst place under all its circumstances that I ever saw pretending to suit a Gentleman's family." When his solicitor advised him to demand a discount on the price, Nelson exploded with frustration against equivocating lawyers and their “hard bargains.”3 Claiming to admire the man who could make a decision on the spot, he commanded, “I cannot afford a fine house and grounds therefore I wish for Merton as it is.”4 Desperate to live with Emma, he refused to be delayed by petty disagreements.

So that Emma could visit Nelson without any impropriety in the eyes of society, Sir William rushed down from a business trip in Wales to be her chaperone. Nelson tried to brush off his gloom by focusing on his idea of a perfect life together in a gorgeous house. They took suites in a luxury hotel along with Nelson's brother's wife, Sarah. Emma had been busily winning the affections of Sarah and her two children, Horace and Charlotte. Bowled over by Emma's connections and riches, Sarah leapt to take advantage of an all-expenses-paid trip to the sea. Despite their efforts to cheer him, Nelson was still despairing. Young Captain Parker was dying from a wound he had received at Boulogne, and his state was a daily reminder to Nelson of the failure there. After her morning bathing, Emma rushed to tend Parker's brow with soothing milks and warm poultices, but there was little she and Sarah could do for the little “Nelsonite,” as she called him.

When she set off back north in her carriage after over a fortnight with Nelson, Emma was determined to win him his house. On September 18, Nelson acquired Merton Place for £9,000, borrowing money from his friend Davison, with the expectation of moving in on October 10. “I hope you will always love Merton,” he wrote excitedly to Emma.5 Her first task was to find his belongings at Dod's warehouse and separate them from Fanny's. Nelson had been infuriated by Fanny's habit of asking for his help and advice about the tiniest decision: Emma resolved to manage alone. He ordered her to spend freely on furniture and supplies without bothering him with the details, instructing, “I entreat I may never hear about the expenses again… at Merton I must keep a table.”

Mrs. Greaves, the former owner of the house, had discovered that the buyer was none other than the great Lord Nelson, and she was dying to meet him. She tried everything to remain in the house. Dreading Nelson's fury at finding an elderly lady beckoning him through the door, offering tea and cakes, Emma demanded her lawyers force her to depart. Furniture was arriving from Portsmouth, trees and