Fahey trained as a masseuse and married Alfred Edward Fahey in 1901, taking his name. Her husband was one of her father's assistants and a painter. Together they had a son called Dennis Mountiford Fahey in 1905, but Alfred then left her when the boy was six months old. She later sued Alfred for divorce and was given custody of Dennis; this was unusual for the times. Her husband died soon afterwards in 1907 and their son died at the age of 35 in Brighton, leaving his mother three grandchildren in Sussex.
