 St. André recanted his views on 9 December 1726 . In 1729 , following the death of Samuel Molyneux from poisoning , he married Molyneux 's widow , Elizabeth . This did little to impress his peers . Molyneux 's cousin accused him of the poisoning , a charge that St. André defended by suing for defamation , but the careers of St. André and his wife were permanently damaged . Elizabeth lost her attendance on Queen Caroline , and St. André was publicly humiliated at court . Living on Elizabeth 's considerable wealth , they retired to the country , where St. André died in 1776 , aged 96 . Manningham , desperate to exculpate himself , published a diary of his observations of Mary Toft , together with an account of her confession of the fraud , on 12 December . In it he suggested that Douglas had been fooled by Toft , and concerned with his image Douglas replied by publishing his own account . Using the pseudonym ' Lover of Truth and Learning ' , in 1727 Douglas also published The Sooterkin Dissected . A letter to Maubray , Douglas was scathingly critical of his Sooterkin theory , calling it " a mere fiction of your [ Maubray 's ] brain " . The damage done to the medical profession was such that several doctors not connected with the tale felt compelled to print statements that they had not believed Toft 's story . On 7 January 1727 John Howard and Toft appeared before the bench , where Howard was fined £ 800 ( £ 107 thousand today ) . He returned to Surrey and continued his practice , and died in 1755 . 
