Duke of Devonshire a separate title from that of Earl of Devon, which still belongs to the Courtenay family. The fifth Duke and Duchess of Devonshire are portrayed in the 2008 film "The Duchess" directed by Saul Dibb. The film is based on Amanda Foreman's biography of the scandalous 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (portrayed by Keira Knightley) and her relationship with the Duke (Ralph Fiennes) and his next wife, Lady Elizabeth Foster. Along with Jane Austen, the fifth Duke and his second wife appear, soon after Georgiana's death, in "Jane and the Stillroom Maid", a murder mystery by Stephanie
The Sylph behind based on her own gambling activity. The Sylph The Sylph is a 1778 novel by Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It was her second printed work and was published anonymously under the name 'A Young Lady'. "The Sylph" is an epistolary novel. It centres on Julia Grenville, a Welsh beauty and ingenue (with whom there are parallels with Cavendish herself) who leaves her idyllic rustic life to marry a rich member of the aristocracy. Over the course of time she uncovers the fact that her husband is a rake and a libertine, lavishing his wealth on gambling and mistresses.