a week later spencer married preece; she, however, continued to live with hepworth, and refused to consummate the marriage. when spencer's bizarre relationship with preece finally fell apart, she refused to grant him a divorce. spencer would often visit carline, and he continued to do so throughout her subsequent mental breakdown and until her death from cancer in november 1950. the painful intricacies of this three-way relationship became the subject in 1996 of a play, "stanley" by the feminist playwright pam gems.