The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-03-10
The Nfordaunt Divorce Cssa
lore OF THE PARTICULARs-THE prpaoss
IMPLICATED III IT,

MORE OF THE PARTIcULARs-FBE rEnsoss
IMPLICATED III IT.
Lady Harriet Mordaunt, who is the capso of
the trouble in the Mordaunt divorce case in
England, is now twenty-five years old, a great
beauty, and the daughter of Sir Thomas Mon.
daunt, a Scotch baronet. Her mother is a
daughter of the late Earl of Kennoul a world.
ly-minded woman, who was bent on marrying
her daughters well. The eldest is married n
the Duke of Athol, another to the Earl Of
Dudley, and third to a very rich Scotchman
named Forbes. Sir Charles Mordaunt Who
from his name must be of the famous Earl Of
Peterborough, is also very rich, and dozen
years older than his wife. They We're marrisd
ia 1856 against her wishes, it is said Snt IN
compliance with her mothers commands. Sir
Charles was much in love, bot thouoht,ess
man, much given to shooting, hunting and
other field sports After the first few months.
although he kept her in every possible luxury.
he left his wife very much to herself. Her de.
light was in balls. the opera, garden parties
and the like; all his pleasure was in yachting
fox hunting, shooting, fishing and Other
amusements which took him much away from
home. She was gay, thoughtless, yery
tendant of the male sex. With no one to
guide or advise her she overstepped the
bounds of prudence and modesty in ber
conduct, and "got talked about. {" Her
parents and her sisters, the Duchess of
Athol and the Countess, Of Dudley, tried
to advise her, but she defed them
She became what in London slang is called a
"fast woman There is ''fast set" who
look upon amusements as the first duty of
life, and Lady Mordaunt soon became an ac-
knowledged member of this set. She drove
the handsomest ponies in London, dressed
laughed louder, cared more for pleasure and
was surrounded at all times with the fastest
men of the Easiest set. The one person who
knew least of what she did or where she went
was her own husband. He had his occuna-
tons: she had hers. When the season was
over they went together to their magnificent
country house, Walton hall, near Warwick.
which was always full of visitors. Lady Nor,
daunt's "fast" admirers of the other sex and
her fast" lady friends were there by the
score. Sir Charles only looked to his own
amusemeuts. He was absent two or three
months in the year for sporting in Scotland or
for fishing in Norway. Lady Mordaunt got
less and less respected and more and
more talked about. Sir Charles Mordaunt
suspected nothing, for he knew nothing.
Once or twice he told her that neither Lord
Cole eldest son of the earl OF Eniskillen), a
boy of twenty. one. and one of thsrwildest lads
in London, nor Sir Frederick Johnstone, a
young fellow OF twenty-four, and notorious as
one of the greatest roues ever known "a worn
out man even at that early agel, were lit visit:
even twice day, in her boudoir, and to be
seen with night after night at the opera; but
she was defiant. Matters had got worse and
she had become more Obstinate-more careless
than ever OF her good name. On one occa-
sion, Sir Charles was spoken to very seriously
by his father-in-law, who had overheard by
chance, at Whites Club (the most extensive
club in London and the only one to which the
Prince of Wales belongs), some joking about
the Prince of Wales being very devoted to La
dy Mortaunt Sir Charles questioned his SER
wants, and found that the Prince had more
than once visited at his house and had seen
Lady Mordaunt alone. He spoke to his wife
and told her that, however fattering such
visits were, they could not but cause her
to be greatly talked about" This was long
before the birth of the unfortunate child,
whose father, she told her husband, was
Lord Cole. But it was not until after
her confinement that he knew the prince had
heen constant visitor at his house, both be-
fore and after his conversation with his wife
about it. The evidence of her guilt with the
prince is ouly her own confession; but in re-
gard to Capt. Farquhar, Lord Cole, and Sir
Frederick Johnstone, there is some very ugly
circumstancial evidence. The affectionate
note addressed to her husband from London
in which she said that she felt "horribly DUH
alone the previous evening, turns out to have
been written after an evening spent with Capt
Faranha9 at the hotel, and alone with him at
the theater.
There Is other evidence inculpating her
more directly; and so with regard to the Others
But their character was such that no prudent
woman would have allowed their visits. There
can be little doubt that the poor woman is
now insane, but remorse and shame may have
made her SO. The Prince of Wales is very
harshly censured by the English people for his
connection with the affair.