ABSTRACT
In 1848, Lady Lincoln left her husband, the future 5th Duke of Newcastle, for the already married Lord Walpole, the future 4th Earl of Orford. This act led inexorably to the 1850 Lincoln divorce, overseen by Lord Brougham as it passed through the House of Lords. The Walpoles separated but did not divorce. Narratives of this episode, both contemporary and retrospective, have tended to view both wives in the stylized terms associated with celebrity gossip. Susan, Lady Lincoln, was stigmatized as a wanton, careless woman who deserted not only her husband but also, even more shockingly, her five children, while Harriet Walpole became figured as an increasingly eccentric habitué of the English colony in Florence. The scholarly investigation of scandal, such as the foundational work by Anna Clark and William Cohen, often focuses on the systems of representation of scandal employed by literature and newspapers and their sociopolitical impact. Consequently, the voice of scandal itself can muffle the voices of those caught up in its dynamic. Caroline Norton and Oscar Wilde made their voices heard, but many others lacked the eloquence or the public access to convey their own version of their story. The extensive correspondence of Lady Lincoln and Lady Walpole with Lord Brougham opens up access to the private points of view of both women, during the divorce and in its aftermath. This chapter utilizes this correspondence in order to assess how these women, especially Lady Lincoln, represented themselves and the events that condemned them to social isolation.
