THE FASCINATION OF NE^^nVIARKET 



from those who were in close touch with him. He 

 went to Newmarket because he was fond of racing, 

 because it gave him a few days of freedom, and, for 

 another reason, he had intimate friends with whom 

 he came in closer touch during those periods of 

 relaxation. As a matter of fact, to my certain know- 

 ledge, the King as prince and monarch was occasionally 

 very bored with the place ; perhaps because occasion- 

 ally he had to be civil to the many dull people who 

 affect Newmarket. To appreciate the place thor- 

 oughly and declaim this is occasionally a pose ; it is 

 not the result of optimism through winning, an affecta- 

 tion of still liking a place although luckless, but New- 

 market is apt to become a sort of fetish. I remember 

 going in to tea one afternoon in a London drawing- 

 room and meeting a certain Irish owner who said he 

 had never been to Newmarket, and was particularly 

 desirous of doing so. Before we left that house before 

 dinner I had telephoned for rooms for him at the 

 Victoria Hotel, as it was then : I had stayed there 

 for some time, at all events since its opening. The 

 entree to the members' enclosure was arranged before 

 racing began. In the early morning all the discomfort 

 of standing on wet grass while the rain beat down on 

 uplifted umbrellas was gone through, in the necessity 

 of being thorough and seeing the gallops in the morning. 

 He caught the spirit of Newmarket, and on the third 

 day he surprised me before racing began by the news 

 that he had bought a property in which he was going 

 to live on the Bury Road. Both he and his wife were 

 delighted at the thought of staying there : that is 

 how one can catch the fever for Newmarket. But 

 the anticipation of living at headquarters and the 

 realisation can be totally different. 



To say that Newmarket has cliques is not to describe 

 233 



