The Life of a Great Sportsman 



with him ? " No one seemed to think of me or fear what my 

 sad fate might have been — had I fallen a victim to those " eyes 

 of blue." Yet grateful as I was to Lord Melgund for standing 

 up for me upon every possible dispute with my brothers, I 

 must have looked upon him more as a relation than anything 

 else, for I may honestly say at this time of my life — when my 

 dear old friend is in his grave, and I in the ordinary course of 

 life am not so very far from mine — that the thought of his 

 being in love with me or I with him never entered into my head. 

 I count myself fortunate in having known so fascinating and 

 great a man intimately, and being able now to pay this tribute 

 to his memory without the fear that any sentimental regard for 

 him then should lead me now to exaggerate his fine qualities. 



Two photographs, which were taken just before he resigned 

 the Scots Guards in 1870, and came to live with us at Limber, 

 I have luckily preserved. Little did I know when he gave 

 them to me so many years ago they would illustrate this book. 



And now very reluctantly I must leave the subject and 

 come to my last meeting with my old friend Lord Minto. As 

 he had been so very ill, too ill in fact to be fit for any 

 exertion that could possibly be avoided, he asked me to go and 

 see him in connection with an " Impression " of my brother 

 which he had promised me for this book, instead of coming to 

 my hotel. 



I had not seen Lord Minto for some years, excepting a 

 glimpse I had of him at my brother's funeral in 191 2 ; we had, 

 however, kept up a correspondence much in the same way that 

 men do, writing congratulations for any pleasant landmarks of 

 life, condolences for the sad, and no Christmas had passed 

 but we exchanged cards of good wishes, so it seemed we met 

 as if we had parted yesterday. 



In person he seemed only changed by his grey hair and 



154 



