by Steele--Montagu a staunch Whig--His
paternal interest for Lady Mary does not endure--He becomes a suitor for
her hand--Lady Mary's devotion and respect for him--Her flirtations--She
and Montagu correspond through the medium of his sister, Anne--Lady
Mary's mordant humour--Her delight in retailing society scandal--The
death of Anne Wortley--Lady Mary and Montagu henceforth communicate
direct--Her first letter to him

CHAPTER III

COURTSHIP, ELOPEMENT, AND MARRIAGE (1710-1712)

A lengthy courtship--Montagu a laggard lover--Lady Mary and Montagu
exchange views on married life--Montagu proposes for her to Lord
Dorchester--Dorchester refuses, since Montagu will not make
settlements--Montagu's views on settlements expressed (by Steele) in the
_Tatler_--Although not engaged, the young people continue to
correspond--Lord Dorchester produces another suitor of his daughter--She
consents to an engagement--The preparations for the wedding--She
confides the whole story to Montagu--She breaks off the engagement--She
and Montagu decide to elope--She runs up to London--Marriage--Lady
Mary's diary destroyed by her sister, Lady Frances Pierrepont

CHAPTER IV

EARLY MARRIED LIFE (1712-1714)

An uneventful existence--Montagu's Parliamentary duties take him to
London--Lady Mary stays mostly in the country--Correspondence--Montagu a
careless husband, but very careful of his money--Later he becomes a
miser--Lady Mary does not disguise the tedium of her existence--
Concerning a possible reconciliation with her father--Lord
Pierrepont of Hanslope--Lord Halifax--Birth of a son, christened after
his father, Edward Wortley Montagu--The mother's anxiety about his
health--Family events--Lady Evelyn Pierrepont marries Baron (afterwards
Earl) Gower--Lady Frances Pierrepont marries the Earl of Mar--Lord
Dorchester marries again--Has issue, two daughters--The death of Lady
Mary's brother, William. His son, Evelyn, in due course succeeds to the
Dukedom of Kingston--Elizabeth Chudleigh--The political situation in
1714--The death of Queen Anne--The accession of George I--The unrest in
the country--Lady Mary's alarm for her son

CHAPTER V

THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I (1714)

Lady Mary shows an increasing interest in politics--She tries to incite
her husband to be ambitious--Montagu not returned to the new
Parliament--His lack of energy--Correspondence--The Council of
Regency--The King commands Lord Townshend to form a Government--The
Ca