Through the Keyhole: Sex, Scandal and the Secret Life of the Country House

Scandal existed long before celebrity gossip columns, often hidden behind the closed doors of the Georgian aristocracy. But secrets were impossible to keep in a household of servants who listened at doors and spied through keyholes. The early mass media pounced on these juicy tales of adultery, eager to cash-in on the public appetite for sensation and expose the shocking moral corruption of the establishment. Drawing on a rich collection of original and often outrageous sources, this book brings vividly to life stories of infidelity in high places – passionate, scandalous, poignant or tragic – and reveals how the flood of print detailing sordid sexual intrigues, created a national outcry and made people question whether the nobility was fit to rule.