It is a hot summer afternoon in 1885. In a small hotel in Sorrento, south of Naples, discreet and exclusive, favoured by the rich, especially Victorian ladies touring the Mediterranean, the calls of the market traders waft through an open second-floor window, and in the streets, men casually carry cases of fruit and vegetables, and bottles of wine, as the afternoon draws on into a languorous evening.
A young French woman looks out of the window and breathes in the scents of the market, mixed with the salt tang of the sea, and occasionally the drains. She has removed her green silk dress, which now hangs on the wardrobe door so as not to crease. She stands in her white lace bloomers and chemise, and a tightly laced white corset, still wearing her high-heeled shiny black leather shoes. A necklace of pearl adorns her neck. Her brown hair, shiny and well-groomed, is wound into a bun on top of her head, but a single wisp hangs down against her rouged cheek, and brushes her red lips as she moves elegantly around the room. She glances again at the newspaper from London, now two weeks old, and tosses it aside, smiling as she does so.
The London Bugle & Messenger, 17
th
July 1885
** Shocking Events in Hertfordshire Village **
** Inhuman and Barbarous Treatment of Society Beauty **
** Narrow Escape for Respected Lady of the Manor **
By our Law Courts Reporter
Following verdict and sentencing, we can now report the outcome of a shocking and disturbing case in the Islington High Court. It is one which includes details so prurient that readers of a sensitive disposition may wish to pass over them. Nevertheless we feel it is our duty to record the events revealed in the case, as both a fitting tribute to British justice but also as a warning to those who may be of a mind to commit foul crimes of this nature, that immorality will be found out and that good will triumph. We also record here the bravery and loyalty of a maid servant towards her mistress.
The case concerned a Mrs Emilia Bushingham, widow and gentlewoman of the village of North Threplington, Hertfordshire. Mrs Bushingham's husband fell two years ago during the Battle of Tell El Kebir in the Egyptian campaign, serving in the Grenadier Guards, and lies buried in the sands of Egypt amongst many other fine heroes.
Mrs Bushingham herself was known in the village where she lived as a gracious and generous gentlewoman, the lady of Bushingham Manor. She was comfortably off, thanks to her husband's financial forethought, her widow's pension, and some properties near Covent Garden, and according to neighbours she gave freely of her own wealth to those in need around her. Through no fault of her own she was to become the victim of a despicable attempt to defraud and degrade her, which was revealed in the court case that we shall set out below.
The defendants in the case were the butler of the house, a Mr Obadiah Pinkhorn, and his wife, the housekeeper, Mrs Bella Pinkhorn. They began their employ with Mrs Bushingham shortly after she had completed the mourning rites for her late husband, when the former butler and housekeeper had moved on. It is now clear that this couple had evil intent from the very start, seeking to prey upon a vulnerable woman.
Having secured the lucrative positions, and after a mere two weeks in her employ, one of their first actions in their unholy scheme was to dismiss Mrs Bushingham's maid servant, a French woman, claiming that they had caught her stealing. We shall come to her testimony in due course, but suffice to say that an element of force was used on the poor girl, whom Mrs Bushingham had always trusted explicitly. She told the court that she did not believe the claims against the girl, but the maid was removed from the house without her knowledge or approval.
Soon after this episode, the behaviour of the two servants became increasingly surly and ill-mannered, and Mrs Bushingham became afraid for her safety, but was unable to act upon her fears due to the dominating nature of the accused. She was not allowed to leave the house. Their attitude hardened and changed from intimidation to maltreatment, as they sought to bend her to their will and misappropriate her wealth for their own benefit.
Among her trials and tribulations, as she described them to the court whilst bravely holding back her tears, one afternoon Mrs Bushingham was pounced upon by the defendants, who forced brandy down her throat, and then bound her with ropes to a bare wooden chair in her own drawing room. She was then gagged with one of her own fine handkerchiefs, which they stuffed into her mouth and secured in place with a tightly tied linen napkin around her head. The defendants taunted the poor woman all during this time, and then sat and discussed openly their wanton desires towards their employer, and what they saw as Mrs Bushingham's forthcoming new lowly status as their very own servant. Mr Pinkhorn then unbuttoned the lady's blouse and, clawing and cutting away her chemise, exposed her breasts, which he proceeded to fondle. Mrs Pinkhorn took a lit candle and dripped hot wax on to them. Ignoring her muffled pleas for mercy, they tortured the lady for an hour or more, laughing lasciviously at her plight, and finally having blindfolded her, they left her, alone, bound and gagged. She could not tell how long she was there.
She described other dastardly deeds at length, stopping more than once to dab an eye with a lace handkerchief, and with much sympathy from His Honour Judge Catchpole.
Finally she was released from the chair but was then taken roughly in hand by the defendants down to the basement cellar where the hot water boiler was housed, a dark and fearful place of elemental fire and smoke, that a woman of delicacy would not wish to enter freely. No sound penetrated into the depths of the building. This of course meant that no sound could escape either, although as she was still gagged, she could in no way call for help. Here Mrs Bushingham was forcibly stripped of her remaining garments down to her stockings, with Mrs Pinkhorn cutting the clothing away using scissors.
