England's Mistress_ The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton - Kate Williams [93]
Marie-Antoinette's letter safely stowed, the Hamiltons departed for Geneva, Rome, and then Venice. In every city Emma performed her Attitudes, and in Rome she made her final sitting for Angelica Kauffman's Lady Hamilton as the Comic Muse, which became her wedding portrait. Then they rolled on to Naples.
The English were still eager to hear about the fascinating Lady Hamilton, and on October 8 the Times reported that the newlyweds had arrived in Naples, although Sir William claimed to his managers in the Foreign Office that he did not arrive until the beginning of November.4 The newspapers argued over whether Emma had been received by Maria Carolina and whether she was introducing ladies at court, the role of an ambassador's wife. One traveler, Lord James Wright, tried to inform the Foreign Office that the gossip in the newspapers was "wanton and false": Lady Hamilton had not forced herself on the queen or the English travelers, and Sir William continued to present women as well as men.5
Emma confided in Mary Dickenson, who, in a traditional courtesy to a bride from a member of the groom's family, had solicited her as a correspondent, that "before the 6th September I was always unhappy and discontented with myself," but now "I feel every moment my obligations to him and am always afraid I can never do enough for him since that moment. I say to myself Am I his Wife, and I can never separate more?"
The codes of high society that Emma had to negotiate as Lady Hamilton were labyrinthine. The slightest mistake in dress or manner could mean disfavor, and she needed to train herself in the correct behavior and self-presentation for the Neapolitan court. Fresh-faced innocence was not enough. Ladies at court had precise standards of elegant movement and performance that required time and practice to perfect. A woman was expected to carry her head artfully, her arms curving gently away from her torso, and walk gracefully with small steps, without jostling her skirts or appearing stiff or inelegant. Even simple activities such as entering a room or exiting it, sitting, drinking tea, or waiting in line at a reception were highly embellished and ritualized.
Sir William was blind to the minutiae of female fashion and behavior, and Emma had to discover the secrets of courtly speech and manners for herself She learned how to greet acquaintances with the right degree of formality and familiarity, speak subtly and softly, and when to listen attentively and when interruptions were permitted. More important still were the nonverbal skills, the touch of the hand, the curtsy and the subtle deployment of the fan. Ushering together all her energies, Emma worked hard to transform herself into a lady of distinction.
A month after Sir William's arrival, the queen communicated to him that, as she had heard much of Lady Hamilton's "exemplary good Conduct and Humility," she would receive her privately. At the meeting, when the queen invited her to sit beside her to discuss Marie-Antoinette, Emma was so overcome that she burst into tears and the queen was deeply touched.6 "I have been presented to the Queen of Naples by her own desire she [h]as shewn me all sorts of kind & affectionate attentions," Emma wrote. She advanced her position in the queen's favor by declining Maria Carolina's first invitation: a dinner in honor of Prince Augustus, the youngest son of King George of England, to which only the most eminent English travelers were invited. Sir William went alone and introduced the aristocrats to Maria Carolina.
When the Hamiltons were invited to spend the hunting season and Christmas at the palace at Caserta, Emma had her chance to become accepted as Lady Hamilton, rather than as the private wife of Sir William. Most courtiers had been steeped in courtly behavior since childhood, but Emma had been picking up every piece of gossip about the court over the last five years. She knew the power structures she faced and was ready