Talk about a love triangle that ended in ruin! Forget the soaps, because the real-life drama involving wealthy squires, a stunning beauty, and a reckless gambler has all the twists, turns, and staggering sums you could ask for.
Meet Henry Chaplin, the quintessential English squire. At just 21, he inherited the magnificent Blankney Hall and a colossal twenty-five thousand acres. Rich, friendly, and close pals with the Prince of Wales, he was the catch of 1864. At 24, he snagged an engagement to the most dazzling woman of the day, Lady Florence Paget—a stunner nicknamed "The Pocket Venus."
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| The Participants |
Enter the rival: Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet, Fourth Marquis of Hastings. Also young and obscenely wealthy, Hastings was a magnet for trouble. He wasn't into hunting and polite society; he was obsessed with horse racing and extreme gambling. He loved the notorious reputation of a "perfect cocker"—a man who gambled sensationally and never flinched, even when losing a fortune. Languid, arrogant, and radiating a controlled recklessness, Hastings was catnip for excitement-seeking women.
The Pocket Venus, however, was spoiled, wilful, and craved adrenaline. Chaplin's passion for quiet hounds and hunting was too slow. Hastings, the "perfect cocker," who could lose a fortune on the turn of a card without a flicker of emotion, offered the high-stakes thrill she desired.
The Shocking Elopement
While she was still engaged to Chaplin, Lady Florence was in secret contact with the flamboyant Marquis. The climax? A daring public snatch!
Hastings drove a hansom cab to Oxford Street, picked up Lady Florence outside Marshall and Snelgrove’s department store, and whisked her straight to St George’s Hanover Square. They were married immediately by special licence!
Society was aghast. Chaplin earned all the sympathy, while Hastings simply celebrated winning his newest "success symbol." Unfortunately for him, the marriage was a disaster from the jump. Hastings' tastes ran to low life and he began drinking heavily, his frail constitution quickly deteriorating. He became the model for Sir Harry Scattercash in Mr Sponge’s Sporting Tour—a pale, wan young man with a strong tendency to delirium tremens.
Chaplin’s Revenge: A Horse Named Hermit
Meanwhile, the scorned Chaplin took the humiliation hard. After a special prayer was said for him at Blankney to help him forget, he bolted—first to Scotland for deer-stalking, then to India for a year of tiger shooting.
He returned, but not quite healed. His pain morphed into a fierce, almost subconscious need for rivalry. A relative wrote that Chaplin was suddenly "buying horses as if he was drunk and backing them as if he was mad."
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At an auction, Chaplin's manager bought a colt named Hermit for 1,000 guineas. The underbidder? Hastings. When he found out the buyer was Chaplin, his irrational malice—already intense—boiled over. Hastings now hated Chaplin and his horse, Hermit, blaming them both for his rapidly fading fortunes, failing health, and dissolving marriage.
The Million-Pound Gamble and the Broken Blood Vessel
As the Derby approached, Hermit became a favourite. Hastings, whose hatred now bordered on mania, swore Hermit could not win and decided to use the horse to financially ruin Chaplin. He began to lay against Hermit with every shilling he could find, borrowing heavily from moneylenders. He even struck private bets with Chaplin, totalling £20,000. By the day of the race, Hastings stood to lose a staggering £120,000 if Hermit won.
Then, disaster for Chaplin! A week before the Derby, Hermit stumbled in a gallop and broke a blood vessel. Blood streamed from his nostrils. Chaplin wanted to scratch him, but his team persuaded him to take the chance.
The news was out. Hermit's odds plummeted from a favourite to a ridiculous 1000-15 starting price.
Chaplin, having recovered his nerve, met Hastings near the parade ring and, with incredible magnanimity, advised his rival to cover his bets. Hastings’ disdainful reply? "Thank you, Henry, I shall not trouble."
The Snowy Finish That Broke a Man
It was a miserable day at Epsom, with flurries of snow and ten false starts. Hermit was nowhere to be seen until the final run. Then, out of the pack, he surged forward! Hermit just caught the leader, Marksman, and won by a neck!
That single neck cost Hastings the massive £120,000. The money came from selling off estates, plunging him hopelessly into the clutches of moneylenders. He was humiliated when he had to beg Chaplin for time to settle the personal bet.
A year later, at just 26, the Fourth Marquis of Hastings died, ravaged by disease brought on by his excesses, broke, and his entire fortune lost in his frantic, failed attempt to recoup his losses over that one race.
In his final days, he declared: "Hermit fairly broke my heart. But I didn’t show it, did I?"—a final, tragic nod to the "perfect cocker" he desperately wished to be.
What a tale of love, rivalry, and ruin, all sealed by a single horse race!
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