And so the stiff brocades and the powdered heads having made due obeisance to the four-poster and its sacred contents, someone discreetly pulled the curtains, and the crowd withdrew.
MARY BELLENDEN,
4th Duchess of Argyll.
Copied for this book from the Gallery at Inverary by the kindness of the present Duke.
FOOTNOTES:
[35] Gentleman’s Magazine, April, 1736.
[36] Alas! Poor Mary Bellenden, then fourth Duchess of Argyle, died on the 18th September, that year, still young.
Lightly rest, thy native Scottish soil upon thee, Mary,
Sweet be thy soul’s eternal rest!
CHAPTER XIV.
Lady Archibald.
After the marriage nobody seems to have been able to find sufficiently superlative expressions in which to convey their appreciation of the Princess’s conduct at the wedding. Lord Waldegrave stated that she distinguished herself “by a most decent and prudent behaviour, and the King, notwithstanding his aversion to his son, behaved to her not only with great politeness, but with the appearance of cordiality and affection.” The aged Duchess of Marlborough, who was by no means in love with the Royal Family, said of her “that she always appeared good-natured and civil to everybody.”