A marriage of convenience is doomed to disappointment
When 35-year-old Colonel Hugh Maguire married widow Lady Elizabeth Cathcart in 1745, he no doubt thought he had a good catch. Although she started out as the humble daughter of a London brewery owner, through her three previous marriages Elizabeth had greatly advanced her station in life. She later stated that her first marriage was to please her parents, the second was for wealth, and the third was for social rank. But at the age of fifty-six, when she married her fourth husband, the handsome Irish officer Hugh, Elizabeth was deeply in love. However, in a humorous look at her life, she bought herself a wedding gift – a ring that said “If I Survive, I'll Get a Fifth Husband.”
Unfortunately for Lady Elizabeth, Hugh's true intentions were revealed shortly after they tied the knot. After seizing all of her money he could find, Hugh asked his wife to hand over her jewelry and the deeds to her estate. I refused. So he demanded again, this time at gunpoint. Elizabeth refused again. Frustrated by her stubborn defiance, Hugh carried her to Ireland and locked her in the attic, promising to release her when she relented and handed over her assets. And I stayed there for over 20 years.
At the beginning of the ordeal, Elizabeth hid her jewelry in her wig and sewed it into the hem of her petticoat. At some point during her imprisonment, she collected jewels and threw them from an attic window to a poor woman who was passing by, and asked the woman to protect them for her. Year after year of loneliness, Elizabeth remained confined to the attic, growing older and continuing to refuse her husband's demands on her property.
Finally, at the age of 75, Elizabeth was so weakened that she could no longer resist. She told Hugh the jewelery was hidden behind a sliding panel at her home in Herefordshire. Hugh rushes to England to find the painting, only to discover that it is secured with an old, rusty padlock. He impatiently tried to break the lock with a large knife, severely cutting his hand when the knife slipped. From the wound he contracted septicemia and died of jaw tetanus shortly afterwards.
After Hugh's death, Lady Elizabeth was rescued from the attic. The man who found her said she had barely enough clothes to cover her body, was wearing a red wig, and that she “looked frightened, and her understanding seemed stupid.” She said she hardly knew one human being from another.
In time Mrs. Cathcart recovered from her ordeal. She found the woman who had faithfully kept her jewelry for 20 years and rewarded her handsomely. By the age of eighty, she was again enjoying dancing and carriage riding. Elizabeth, at the age of ninety, was said to have “danced with all the verve and joy of a young woman.” Elizabeth lived to be 97 years old and was buried alongside her first husband. She survived fourth place (barely), but despite her previous pledge, she never made it to fifth place. She left her fortune to charities and her servants.
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