CHARLES J. ARCHARD

LONDON:
GREENING & CO., LTD.
1907

CONTENTS

  1. [THE FIRST BENTINCK A HERO]
  2. [HOW THE BENTINCKS BECAME POSSESSED OF WELBECK.—A FEMININE INTRIGUE]
  3. [THE FARMER DUKE—WEDS THE RICH MISS SCOTT—HIS HIGH-SPIRITED SONS AND DAUGHTERS]
  4. [THE FARMER DUKE'S DAUGHTER AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS' SPEAKER.—BECOMES A BENEVOLENT VISCOUNTESS]
  5. [EARLY LIFE OF LORD JOHN BENTINCK, AFTERWARDS FIFTH DUKE OF PORTLAND.—THE ADELAIDE KEMBLE ROMANCE]
  6. [LORD GEORGE BENTINCK'S RACING CAREER.—QUARREL WITH HIS COUSIN.—DUEL WITH SQUIRE OSBALDESTON.—"SURPLICE" WINS THE DERBY AND ST. LEGER.—ATTEMPTS TO POISON THE HORSE.—FRIENDSHIP WITH DISRAELI.—TRAGIC DEATH]
  7. [THE ECCENTRIC DUKE AND HIS UNDERGROUND TUNNELS]
  8. [THE PRESENT DUKE AND DUCHESS.—A ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT]
  9. [THE DUKE AND DUCHESS AT HOME.—THE DUCHESS AS PRINCESS BOUNTIFUL.—THE DUCHESS AT COURT]
  10. [CLAIMS TO THE PORTLAND PEERAGE BY MRS. DRUCE AND MR. G.H. DRUCE]

THE PORTLAND PEERAGE ROMANCE

CHAPTER I

THE FIRST BENTINCK A HERO

What a delightful story is that of the Portland peerage, in which fidelity, heroism, chivalry and romance are blended and interwoven in the annals of the noble families of England. Who that has been to Welbeck Abbey, that magnificent palace in the heart of Sherwood Forest, with its legends of Robin Hood and his merrie men, with its stately oaks and undulating woodlands, stretching away to fertile pastures, dotted over with prosperous farmsteads, as far as the eye can reach, does not feel interested in the fortunes of the noble owner; and who that has seen the Duke and Duchess on some festive occasion at Welbeck, moving to and fro among their thousand guests, a perfectly happy couple, in which the course of true love runs smooth, and whose supreme delight appears to be to spread happiness around them, is so churlish as not to wish them long life, as types of the English nobility it is a delight to honour?