 Gladstone resigned as Prime Minister in 1885 following a Government defeat over the Irish home rule question . The new Tory government was led by Lord Salisbury . However , as a minority administration it was not expected to last , and a swift return of the former administration was anticipated . During this period serious ( if unproven ) charges of plotting and ruthless ambition were about to be levelled against Lady Rosebery . Sir Charles Dilke , considered as a likely replacement for Gladstone , and thus a rival to Rosebery in government , was implicated in one of the most <unk> and ruinous divorce cases of the era . Involvement in any divorce was social suicide in the 19th century , but the facts which emerged were enough to ensure it was political suicide as well . A friend of the Roseberys , Donald Crawford , MP , sued his wife Virginia for divorce naming Dilke as co @-@ <unk> . There was little evidence and Dilke denied the charge , which could have been ultimately forgotten , if Virginia had not suddenly decided to sign a confession giving such lurid details that a great scandal was <unk> . She claimed that not only had Dilke slept with her and taught her " French vices " , but also slept with her mother and <unk> in a three @-@ in @-@ a @-@ bed <unk> with Virginia and a maid . Dilke denied everything , but his hopes of high political office were ruined forever . Dilke claimed the whole thing was an <unk> of lies and <unk> by his political enemies . <unk> began to circulate that the Roseberys , and Lady Rosebery in particular , were at the bottom of Dilke 's misfortune . In his futile quest to <unk> himself , and grasping at <unk> , Dilke wrote to Rosebery accusing Lady Rosebery of having paid Virginia to make the confession . An outraged Rosebery denied all on his wife 's behalf , while in December 1885 Lady Rosebery 's only response on being told of Virginia Crawford 's <unk> was : " Dilke 's behaviour is very astonishing in some reports , though it is not an actual surprise to me . " Early the following year Gladstone was returned to power and Rosebery was appointed Foreign Secretary in Gladstone 's third but brief term of office . Dilke 's political career was ruined , and for years afterwards he continued to expound the Rosebery conspiracy theory . Nothing was ever proven against Lady Rosebery and no <unk> evidence exists to <unk> the claim . 
