Here's an excerpt from a letter which is intriguing me at the moment.
Quote:
" In the winter of 1800, 1801, I was breakfasting with Lord and Lady Nelson, at their lodgings in Arlington-street, and a cheerful conversation was passing on indifferent subjects, when Lord Nelson spoke of something which had been done or said, by ' dear Lady Hamilton;' upon which Lady Nelson rose from her chair, and exclaimed, with much vehemence, ' I am sick of hearing of dear Lady Hamilton, and am resolved that you shall give up either her or me.' Lord Nelson, with perfect calmness, said—'Take care, Fanny, what you say. I love you sincerely; but I cannot forget my obligations to Lady Hamilton, or speak of her otherwise than with affection and admiration.' Without one soothing word or gesture, but muttering something about her mind being made up, Lady Nelson left the room, and shortly after drove from the house...'
According to Sir N Harris Nicolas, this is a portion of a letter written to him by William Haslewood, Nelson's solicitor, in April 1846.
I would be interested to know if Fanny's ultimatum to Nelson:
'... I am sick of hearing of dear Lady Hamilton, and am resolved that you shall give up either her or me...' was generally known or reported by anyone prior to Haslewood's relating it to Nicolas in 1846?
Was William Haslewood the first (or the only) contemporary of Lord and Lady Nelson to tell this story?