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Emma had no idea of the truth: her husband had put up the greatest obstacle to her ever receiving any financial recompense for her work. In his letters to the Foreign Office, Sir William did not mention any of the acts for which she claimed a pension, including her contribution to victualing the fleet before the Nile and her efforts in assisting the royal family to flee. Despite the fact that Maria Carolina mistrusted him and communicated secrets exclusively to Emma, Sir William had claimed to the government that the queen herself had given him the letters from the King of Spain that proved so vital to espionage in 1795. Sir William told his friends and Greville about Emma's deeds, but he inflated his role to the government (stung by gossip that Emma did all the work). He had never sent them official word that she was so much more than his "private wife." As a consequence, they considered her descriptions of her services as lies.

In the midst of the financial chaos, Nelson was offered the position of commander in chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. Emma had to prepare herself to cope alone. They rushed to have Horatia christened before he left. Emma wrote to Mrs. Gibson to take Horatia to Marylebone Parish Church and to pay the clergyman and the clerk double fees not to mention the name of the father and mother. Horada Nelson Thompson was recorded as born on October 29, 1800.12 The date of her birth was put back three months to pretend that she had been born in Naples and pursue the fiction that she was the couple's "godchild."13 Emma tried to distract herself from worrying over Nelson's imminent departure by planning (and paying for) the wedding of his niece Kitty Bolton and her cousin William Bolton. Secretly, Nelson was dismayed by his family's greed, and he hated the way Sarah Nelson pushed Emma to cement her friendship with the Prince of Wales in order to gain patronage for her husband, but he had no time to tell her his feelings.14 On May 18, the same day as the wedding, Nelson left at four in the morning for Portsmouth. Emma had been wise to keep herself busy; he hated a weepy parting and he wanted her to be affectionate but brave. She cried a little, for he sent a message from the first stage of his journey:

Cheer up, my dearest Emma, and be assured that I ever have been, and am, and ever will be, your most affectionate and faithful

Nelson and Bronte

Neither of them knew it then, but she was pregnant with their second child.

CHAPTER 45

Nelson's Lonely Mistress

Emma hoped Nelson might return in six months. Soon after he left C_^ in 1803, she began to suspect she was pregnant, and by midsummer she was sure. Lonely and needy, she wrote to Nelson constantly, but he did not receive any of her letters until July. She spent most of the year in mourning for Sir William, her growing bulge hidden under voluminous black robes.

Everybody clamored to see Emma's Attitudes, but she performed them only for a select few. Even though she had declared she would never do them in London again, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun persuaded her to put on a show for two French emigré princes on their visit to London.

I placed a large frame in the centre of the room and two screens on either side of the frame. I had an enormous candle which bathed the scene in a pool of light but I placed it out of sight so that the whole might resemble a painting more. After all the invited guests had arrived, Lady Hamilton took up various poses within this frame and her expressions were indeed quite remarkable. She had brought a little girl with her who must have been about seven or eight and who resembled her greatly. I was told this was the daughter of Mme [Sarah] Nelson. She had the child pose with her and the picture reminded me of the women fleeing in Poussin's Rape of the Sabine Women. She passed from sorrow to joy, from joy to terror, so rapidly and so convincingly that we were all delighted.1

Vigée-Lebrun adds a sly hint that Emma was performing with a daughter—but Horatia was hardly two and Emma