was a year old. The mother went to work as a dressmaker and in domestic service, and the child was brought up by her grandmother. Emily developed into an exuberant, self-confident extrovert:
Whatever else in her story may be debatable, her beauty cannot be questioned. She had hair a shade between golden and auburn, which when let loose, rippled down to he heels, large blue-grey eyes of exceptional brilliance, one of them marred, or enhanced, by a brown speck, said to vary with her mood, and a complexion which somebody likened to apple blossom. And hers was no static beauty; any emotion, genuine or assumed was reflected in her face. Romney, who at the height of his fame could ask ?1,500 for a portrait painter her, or pictures inspired by her, thirty--some say fifty--times.
The first person who drew Emily was a Miss Thomas, the daughter of her first employer. Emily was a poor girl and went to work early as a nursemaid, perhaps as early as 13 years of age. She and her mother soon moved to London where Emily got another job as a nursemaid in the home of Dr. Richard Budd, where one of her fellow servants was Jane Powell, later to become a famous actress, and association with Powell may have helped Emma develop her latent histrionic talents.
There is some uncertainty about Emma's life for a time. She found a rich protector some time alter and became the mistress of Sir Harry Fetherstonehaugh, but she had chosen badly as he was not the ideal protector. One of his guests in the country was Charles Francis Greville. She had his child some time after being turned out by Sir Harry, and Sir Greville supported the child, who was entrusted to Emma's great-grandmother.
Greville's uncle and best friend was Sir William Hamilton, who returned in 1784 from a post as Ambassador at the Court of Naples. He was then 54 years of age and had been a widower for two years. He was enchanted by Emma, as was natural for a lover of bea...