THE EIGHTH DUKE OF BEAUFORT 



1 1 6, and the distance from his bedroom door to the 

 billiard room on the floor beneath " can be little 

 short of the eighth of a mile," it is when he 

 describes the stable and its accessories, that he is 

 more on his own ground, and that he consequently 

 condescends to a more natural style of narrative. 

 " There is nothing very striking," he tells us, " in 

 the external appearance of the Badmington stables, 

 which are very conveniently placed, being within a 

 hundred yards of the back entrance to the mansion. 

 Their interior, however — by far the most important 

 — exhibits a splendid stud, and this composed of 

 every description of horse." 



Even here, one or two of Nimrod's quaint obser- 

 vations may occupy us for a moment. We may 

 make a note that the head groom tells him there 

 are thirty-five " regular hunters " under his care, 

 while there are ten more "able to go a-hunting." 

 Mr. Apperley then introduces a subject of special 

 interest to himself — the Duke's fondness for mount- 

 ing his friends. " Would you believe it ? " asked 

 the groom, " the Duke once mounted seventeen 

 gentlemen one day." A certain old favourite 

 covert-hack of his master's, named Mayflower, was 

 introduced by the groom with the remark " two and 

 twenty years old last grass, and now as sound as a 

 ninepin and as playful as a kitten. . . . All our 

 young ladies were brought up upon her." The 

 narrator thereupon does not lose the opportunity for 

 reflecting on " the happy association of female ac- 



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