Alexander Pope, a friend of the family, was prevailed upon to write one of his humorous heroic verses about the incident in the hope that laughter would defuse the situation.
The result was The Rape of the Lock (first published in Lintot's Miscellany in May 1712), which was an enormous public success, selling 3,000 copies in four days.
The first version of the poem, however, so lampooned all those involved that it upset the Petres even more and Arabella, flattered to be cast as a heroine by the distinguished Mr. Pope, is said to have become "very troublesome and conceited".
It is known that Petre lived at Ingatestone Hall, but on the strength of his marriage on 1 March 1712, to Catherine Walmesley (1697 – 31 January 1785),[2] an extremely rich Lancastrian heiress.
Lord Petre intended to move back to Thorndon Hall, the family seat, but died of smallpox, at the age of 23, before doing so.