It was on the hot, sun-drenched sands of Bermuda that Woodrow Wilson had an extramarital affair with a local socialite — maybe.

The Royal Gazette takes a look at the turn-of-the-century relationship between Mary Allen Hulbert Peck and the future president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, which was carried out at Shoreby, a historic home now part of Newstead Belmont Hills Resort & Spa.

The Royal Gazette talked about the affair with Gary Singer, a fractional owner of one of the cottages at the newly renovated Harbour Road, Paget property.

Mr. Singer is retired after a career working as a computer scientist for IBM. His passion is history, and in his hometown of Guildford, Connecticut, he owns one of the oldest residences in the state. He has been a visitor to the Island for many years.

"I got in touch with Dr. Edward Harris, executive director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum, when there was a possibility that Shoreby wouldn't survive at the creation of the new Newstead Belmont Hills Resort," said Mr. Singer.

"[Dr. Harris] decided to write an article about it in 2006, on Shoreby and some of the important people who visited there."

Renovations to the Shoreby part of Newstead Belmont Hills are now almost completed. They were done with a view to preserving certain historical features such as the original staircase.

It is now part of the hotel and includes three fractional units.

Technically, Shoreby is not all that old, having been built in the early 1900s. It was a brand new home when it attracted some of Bermuda's most famous visitors including writer Samuel Clemens, more familiar as Mark Twain, Standard Oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers, and Mr. Wilson, who later became the 28th president of the United States.

What attracted them all was not so much the beautiful view of the harbour, the peace and quiet, or the décor, but the home's renter, Mrs. Peck.

Mrs. Peck was witty and well-versed in local politics and controversies.

"I would imagine that her conversation and experiences were as entertaining as reading a good book," said Mr. Singer.

Mrs. Peck was widowed and remarried to Thomas Peck, owner of Peck Textile Mills in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He made woollens.

Mrs. Peck shocked Bermuda society by openly smoking cigarettes, and entertaining men in her parlour.

She claimed that she spent so much time in Bermuda because it helped the lungs of her teenage son, Allen Hulbert.

For whatever reason, Mrs. Peck liked Bermuda. In her memoir, 'The Story of Mrs. Peck' published in 1933, she wrote: "Joyous, with an almost pagan delight in basking it its beauty, its sunshine and its freshness. I felt at home in Bermuda."

Mr. Singer theorised that Mrs. Peck's jealous husband may have banished her to Bermuda to keep her out of trouble.

"He may have thought that by putting her here in Bermuda she couldn't get into too much trouble that would cause a social disgrace," he said. "Mrs. Peck entertained all sorts of people including the governor of Bermuda.

"She was supposed to be one of the most beautiful and socially connected women of her time. Keep in mind that this was the 1890s when you didn't show an ankle.

"The only time you showed your bosom was at a formal affair or when you were trying to get a match going between families."

Thomas Peck only visited Bermuda occasionally.

"He was probably only interested in earning another million, by 1900 standards," said Mr. Singer. "That is how she was able to carry on these relationships."

In photos left of her, Mrs. Peck hardly matches today's supermodel standards, but back then she was considered to be a looker.

William Allen White author of 'Woodrow Wilson — The Man and his Time' wrote: "A light and lovely sympathy in her voice, with noble eyes that looked not too seriously out of an understanding heart, and lips that smiled easily and never spoke malice nor ever harboured ungenerous thoughts."

Mr. Singer thought that Mrs. Peck might actually have been quite lonely in Bermuda, given that its population was only between 5,000 and 7,000 strong.

"There were only a handful of wealthy, prominent families on the Island who only entertained amongst themselves," said Mr. Singer. "So it was a very closed social society.

"When Mrs. Peck was in New York or Boston she was surrounded by hundreds of people from social events and parties. I think a lot of women, even today, marry a husband, the husband is interested in other things, they get bored and then there are complications to the relationship."

Mr. Wilson first visited Bermuda in January 1907 when he was president of Princeton University.

In this role he took the institution to new heights. During his early tenure he tightened up entrance standards so much that enrollment decreased, for a time. But his work had taken a toll on his health and he'd suffered a possible stroke in 1906.

He had been married for many years to Ellen Axson and they had three daughters, but he came to Bermuda alone.

Historians have debated endlessly whether Woodrow Wilson and Mrs. Peck were more than "good friends".

A dalliance would have been hindered by Mrs. Peck's entourage which sometimes included her mother, Annette Allen, her stepdaughter and her son, his friend and his tutor.

Mr. Wilson made several visits to Bermuda. On one occasion he and Samuel Clemens schemed to prevent motorcars from entering Bermuda.

Although Mr. Twain often gets the credit for this, according to an article written by Dr. Harris in 2006 in the Mid-Ocean News, it was actually Mr. Wilson who led the charge.

He drafted a petition against the possible importation of motorcars which Mark Twain signed. It read: "We, the undersigned, visitors to Bermuda, venture respectfully to express the opinion that the admission of automobiles to the Island would alter the whole character of the place…"

In 1909, apparently against a backdrop of Bermuda roses, flowering oleander, and "gray-green cedar" Mr. Wilson told Mrs. Peck of his plans to run for President of the United States.

She encouraged him, asking, "why not?"

She talked him through fears that he would be neglecting his wife and daughters, and his duties as president of Princeton.

He, in turn, urged her to seek a separation from her husband. She did eventually divorce Thomas Peck.

Mr. Wilson's friendship with Mrs. Peck continued outside of Bermuda. She visited the Wilson family at their home in Connecticut, and they visited her.

Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Peck wrote hundreds of letters back and forth to one another. When his papers were released after his death, historians found a host of intimate letters between the two, slightly suggestive, but not openly inappropriate.

In one letter Mrs. Peck wrote: "Does the bougainvillaea fling itself over the cottage as of old? Why, why can I not be there — to fling myself where I would."

It is clear something was flung, but what exactly it was, and how much flinging was done, will never be known.

Mr. Wilson served an eight year term as president, from 1913 to 1921. His first wife died a year after he became president, and he remarried shortly after, to Edith Galt.

It was a happy marriage, but got off with a slight hitch. In 1915, Mr. Wilson made a confession about "the contemptible error and madness of a few months", but further details of this were not revealed.

Throughout Mr. Wilson's presidency rumours of his affair with Mrs. Peck persisted. And she later claimed that in 1916 the Republican Party tried to bribe her to come out about her affair with Mr. Wilson, offering her $300,000 and a mink coat if she did so. She refused, even though their friendship was long over. Whatever people said about Mrs. Peck, she didn't kiss and tell.

Some Woodrow Wilson quotes that may or may not be applicable:

¦ "If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience." (Mrs. Peck had a dog named Paget Montmorenci Vere de Vere. In her autobiography she wrote that one of Mr. Wilson's faults was that he didn't like dogs.)

¦ "Never attempt to murder a man who is committing suicide."

¦ "At every crisis in one's life, it is absolute salvation to have some sympathetic friend to whom you can think aloud without restraint or misgiving."

¦ "Every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells, and when I give a man an office, I watch him carefully to see whether he is growing or swelling."