CHAP. XV.

MARRIAGE and settlement of a fellow-servant.-My own attempt at settlement for life.-Disappointment.Colonel Lennox and Lady Charlotte Gordon.-The Colonel's disagreement with the Duke of York.Anecdote of the Duchess of Cumberland.-Duel between Colonel Lennox and the Duke of York.Duel between Colonel Lennox and Mr. Swift.Awkward consequences.-Private marriage of Colonel Lennox and Lady Charlotte, at Gordon Castle,Curious announcement of the marriage by the Marquess of Huntley. Circumstances leading to my leaving the Duchess's service.-Settlement at Woodhall.

"Now Cupid's arrow flies, anon the dart
Of deadly Mars is levell'd at the heart;
Next Bacchus takes the field; then, straight
Mild Pan descends to end the dire debate."

ANONYMOUS.

ABOUT the time that I yoked myself in Hymen's chain, her Grace's first footman got married also, and like many other young men, imprudently, not having made the necessary provision for what would probably follow. He advised with me; and I, pitying his condition, persuaded him to seek, without delay, a more profitable situation. I, at the

same time, proposed to intercede, if he chose, with the Duchess in his behalf, and get her to speak to Mr. Dundas, and, if possible, procure him some inferior situation under government. He gladly accepted my offer of intercession, and the Duchess not only spoke to Mr. Dundas, but also to her uncle, Lord Adam Gordon, then Governor of Edinburgh Castle. Mr. Dundas presently sent him to be storekeeper at Fort William, on the north coast of Scotland.

In a few days after the footman had left us, Lord Adam Gordon drove up to the door, and enquired for the Duchess; I, stepping up to the carriage, announced that her Grace was gone out, He then desired me to tell her Grace on her return, "that the office of storekeeper of Fort George was vacant, and that if it would suit her Grace's purpose, it might be had for one word speaking." The moment he uttered the words, I resolved to apply for it myself. Saying nothing, therefore, of the footman having got served, I merely made my obedience, and the carriage withdrew. I was now all at once full of the subject, and directly on her Grace's return, I took the opportunity of soliciting her upon it. I told her Grace, that "as she had been so kind as to speak in behalf of Thomas, I hoped she would do the same for me, and that it would greatly add to the many obligations under which I lay to her condescending kindness." She very patiently heard all my petition, and then, looking earnestly at me, she was pleased to say-" D'Amour, the situation would not be good enough for you; you must have a better; it would scarcely, man, find

you in buckles and buttons ;* think no more about it, and I will take care you shall never leave me without being provided for." I had no reply to make, but bowing to her Grace, retired.

66

After this things passed on in their usual way, and when the season came we left London for the North. The year following, when we were in town, as I was employed one day in dressing the Duchess's hair, she said to me, D'Amour, Mr. Steele is going to call upon us, he has a situation for you; will you change your religion ?"+ No, your Grace, I never will," was my immediate answer. "I thought as much," she replied, "and I fear that that will stand in the way of my serving you." Mr. Steele called the same afternoon; and as it was my business to announce him, when I had done so, I stood a moment, expecting her Grace would name the subject; she did so immediately, and I had the mortification to be told by Mr. Steele, " that upon those terms I was debarred from holding any office which it was in his power to procure." There was therefore no remedy for me but patience; yet it afforded me no little comfort, that the Duchess had manifested evident and strong desire to serve me; and these circumstances preventing, were no fault of her Grace.

Although most of the following circumstances,

* In allusion to my well-known extravagance in these trifling articles.

+ Mr. Steele was Mr Pitt's Secretary, and my religion has ever been that in which I was brought up, a Roman Catholic.

which occurred while I was in the Duchess's establishment, were made matter of public news at the time, it may not be amiss to narrate what will have a proper connection with my own personal history.

Colonel Lennox, nephew and heir to the then Duke of Richmond, courted Lady Charlotte Gordon. It is well known that the Colonel was at this time connected with the Coldstream Regiment of Guards, whose superior officer was his Royal Highness the Duke of York. As I recollect, it was thought at the time that the Royal Duke was somewhat piqued at the manner of the Colonel's appointment, which had taken place without his being properly consulted. While the Duke was under the influence of this unfriendly feeling, he told Colonel Lennox one morning on parade, " that he had been given to understand that he (Col. Lennox) had allowed language to be used to him at the meeting of the Venus Club,which no gentleman ought to sit down with." The Colonel made no particular reply at the time, but, as soon as parade was over, he desired that an orderly room might be called; and, in presence of his brother officers, the Colonel respectfully inquired of the Duke "Who had told him that he had disgraced himself at the Venus Club ?" The Duke declined telling him, when the Colonel, rather impatiently, exclaimed, "How hard it is to have to do with Princes!" His Royal Highness, in reply, bade the Colonel not to consider him as a Prince but merely as a Gentleman. The Colonel, thus relieved from a difficulty, and being greatly incensed, wrote to each member of

the club separately; and it appeared, (for the answers were all published afterwards) that not one of the individuals gave a direct answer to the querist, but contrived to make their replies evasive. The next step on the part of the Colonel was to challenge his Royal slanderer to a meeting on Wimbledon Common, near to the Gravel Pits.

I recollect very well the Colonel being at our house the evening before the meeting, and how perfectly easy he seemed on the occasion. No member of our family knew of the perilous situation in which he stood. and the young couple were actually to be married in a very few days. Next day, Colonel Lennox himself was the first to bring the news, for, with a view, no doubt, to prevent unnecessary alarm when the affair was over, he came direct to our house. The Duke of York, as all the world knows, had a narrow escape, the Colonel's ball passing so near his head as to cut off a lock of his hair. His Royal Highness, as is well known, fired into the air. So serious an affair was it expected to be for the Colonel, had the Duke fallen, that especial arrangements were made, both by land and water, for a speedy exit into France. Happily, however, these precautions were vain.

It was about twelve o'clock when the Colonel came in. I waited on him, I recollect, with a basin of soup, which caused me to be one of the earliest recipients of the intelligence, as well as giving me an opportunity of witnessing the bustle and alarm among the heads of the family.

During the afternoon, we had a visit from her

Q