The first man to take on Sophia Baddeley was married, Lord Molyneux. Still edging into the courtesan mentality, it bothered the actress that he was married. Lord Molyneux persisted, suggesting she should accept him by offering to pay off all her debts and settling 400 English pounds on her per year. Her friends encouraged her towards him but, though the debts were significant, and she could spend, she considered that her singing and dancing brought her income to about 90,000 pounds a year in modern money. This was an amount beyond the possibilities for most of her peers in acting. She could afford her own private carriage, servants, expensive clothing, so why would she need him?
She and her husband appeared on the same stages as actors though formally separated and that helped preserve her reputation some. When King George III was so taken with her beauty that he commissioned her portrait to be painted by an esteemed artist, society opened to her. The painting was called The Clandestine Marriage, though. She was invited to charity events and teas and was given more respectability. Noblemen began to pursue her, wanting the prestige of their association with her.
But, that was not all they wanted.
A hundred years earlier or so, in 1660, women had just been allowed on stage. Until then male actors played female roles. An actress was thought to be a prostitute. Theaters, called playhouses, were in the hub of the prostitute's trade. Actresses experienced being kidnapped, raped, or entrapped in illicit "marriages." Actresses left the stage to become Kept women. King Charles II was the person who had reestablished theaters in the mid to late 17th century and he himself had taken two mistresses who had been actresses, Mary "Moll" Davis, and Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn. So there was a precedent set.
However, by Sophia's time the roles actresses played had also changed; less foul mouthed, not so sexual. There were basically better roles, roles women in the audience could relate to so that they too became fans. As the roles got better, the reputations of actresses improved as well.
Soon enough a new pursuer, Lord Melbourne, twenty-one, recently married, and very rich, came into Sophia's life. Once again, because he was married, Sophia refused him. First he sent her a 'present' of about 18,000 modern pounds, then came to call upon her himself, leaving thousands more, and then again, till he had given about 50,000 pounds. He said he would spend his whole fortune on her if that was what it took to possess her.
Though she was rich in her own right, Lord Melbourne prevailed and Sophia took to spending his money on fine things - silks - diamond earrings - which added to her costumes. She had a habit of giving things away to anyone who complimented her. Before she wore her garments three or four times, she handed them off to servants who appreciated them. Sharing her wealth made her popular with the people who worked around her. However, she grew bored of Lord Melbourne, his presumptions that he could show up at any time and that she would have sex with him that was not satisfying. She preferred him away.
Page 45: "As Sophia surrendered herself to this life of extravagance and luxury, the toils of her theatre career began to seem increasingly irksome."
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