England's Mistress_ The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton - Kate Williams [94]
By March, Sir William was gratified by her success at negotiating the complex social codes. Aristocrats queued to visit her, and Emma was careful always to dress well, seem humble and obliging, and flatter her guests with attention. She described Lord and Lady Malmesbury, Lord and Lady Plymouth, Lord Dalkeith, and Lord Bruce as "very kind and attentive" and "remarkably civil to me." Sir William enthused to Joseph Banks that the king and queen
are so good as to receive & treat her as any other travelling Lady of distinction— She has gained the hearts of all even of the Ladies by her humility & proper behaviour, & we shall I dare say go on well— I will allow with that 99 times in a hundred such a step as I took would be very imprudent but I know my way here…. I am sure you will hear from every quarter of the comforts of my house.7
Sir William had made a similar comment about imprudent steps and "99 times in a hundred" to his friend Georgiana, Countess Spencer—he took a defensive stand so often that he even repeated the same lines.
As Sir William suggested, Emma had "a difficult part to act." She had to preside over the dinners for her illustrious guests and ensure everyone was looked after. Emma sat at one end of the table, Sir William at the other, with the principal guests seated along the sides. Dinners usually began at three o'clock in the afternoon and could last for more than four hours. Food did not come in successive courses but in two servings of around twenty or more dishes, both sweet and savory. The savory plates included fish, carved meat, a ham, a turtle, and plentiful game. Sweet dishes were cakes, and on a gala occasion sorbets or fruit in ice sculptures. Meals were at best lukewarm, for the kitchens were situated some way from the dining room, but no guest expected the food to be sizzling. Very hot food was thought to damage the constitution, and it also signified poverty. Only the lowest classes ate food straight from the fire. Throughout the dinner, Emma had to keep an eye on the servants to ensure they served everyone correctly, monitor the guests for boredom or difficulty with the food, and keep up a sparkling and informed but tactful conversation. The guests expected the dishes to be artfully arranged in patterns and decorated with flowers. Hostesses were expected to lead the entertainment after dinner, and so Emma sang and performed her Attitudes or the tarantella. Emma excelled in her role, and reports soon reached England that she was "much respected & beloved on account of the proofs she gave of a benevolent heart."8
"I am the happiest woman in the world," Emma told Romney in a long letter soon after she had arrived back at the palazzo. She wondered if the Prince of Wales had said anything about her, promised she was "interested in all that concerns you," and asked him to send the portrait of her in a black hat to Louis Dutens, a witness at her wedding, for "he took a great deal of pains and trouble for me." She then implored his help.
I hope I will have no corse to repent of what he [Sir William] [h]as done, for I feel so grateful to him that I think I shall never be able to make him amends for his goodness to me. But why do I tell you this? you know me enough; you was the first dear friend I open'd my heart to, you ought to know me, for you have seen and discoursed with me in my poorer days, you have known me in my poverty and prosperity, and I had no occasion to have lived for years in poverty and distress if I had not felt something of virtue in my mind. Oh, my dear friend, for a time I own through distress my virtue was vanquished, but my sense of virtue was not overcome. How gratefull now, then, do I feel to my dear, dear husband that has restored peace to my mind, that has given me honors, rank, and, what is more, innocence and happiness. Rejoice with me, my dear sir, my friend, my more than