Devonshire Characters and Strange EventsBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
Devonshire Characters and Strange Events
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Devon (England) -- Biography; Devon (England) -- History
he deluded the unfortunate girl into a connexion with him that lasted
for five years, and during all that time he made her no allowance
beyond the payment of those expenses which he himself had led her
to incur, and the presents he made to her did not in all that time
amount to £100. In 1821, Maria bore the Colonel a child, and had again
expectations of becoming a mother in 1824, and in the June of that year
all connexion ceased between them.
In the spring of 1823, Mr. Joseph Hayne, a young man of fortune,
commonly known, from the colour of his coat, as “Pea-green” Hayne,
saw Maria Foote at Covent Garden Theatre, was struck with her beauty,
called at her house in Keppel Street, and invited Mr. Foote to spend
some days with him at Kitson Hall in Staffordshire, one of his seats.
The invitation was accepted, and there Hayne informed the father that
he desired to pay his addresses to his charming daughter. Mr. Foote
hurried back to town, and as Maria was expecting her confinement,
sent off his wife with her into the country under the feigned name of
Forbes, to remain in concealment till after that event.
In the following January, Hayne again called at Keppel Street, and
announced to Mrs. Foote that he seriously desired to be united in
marriage to her daughter. Mrs. Foote informed him that Maria was
engaged to be married to Colonel Berkeley, and that her daughter
could not listen to his suit unless the Colonel failed to fulfil his
promise. Hayne then said that he was about to go into the country,
and asked permission to escort Mrs. and Miss Foote to the opera, and
to tender to them his private box. To this the lady consented. As it
happened, Colonel Berkeley with a Mr. Manse happened to be in the pit
that evening, and the Colonel at once dispatched his friend to the box
to request Hayne to speak with him in the pit. When the young buck
came to him, Berkeley asked him for an explanation of his conduct with
respect to Miss Foote, and desired a meeting on the following day.
When they met the Colonel disclosed to Hayne everything relative to
his connexion with Maria Foote, and told him that he was the father by
her of two children. On hearing this Mr. Hayne at once wrote to the
lady to withdraw his proposal of marriage. She, in reply, requested an
interview with him in order to explain the circumstances. This took
place at Marlborough in the presence of Mrs. Foote. The young man (he
was aged only twenty-two) was moved by her sad story, and on his return
to town found that his flame had not been quenched by the revelation.
So he penned a letter to Maria, stating that his feelings remained
unaltered, and begging her to marry him. After some negotiation she
agreed to this, and at Hayne’s advice the children were sent to Colonel
Berkeley, who had asked for them. Hayne proposed to settle £40,000
on Miss Foote, for himself and her to receive the dividends during
their joint lives, and after the death of the survivor of them, to be
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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