HIS LETTERS. 347 



took place, and his name, together with that of 

 his wife, will live for ever in connection with the 

 famous ball given by them on the night preced- 

 ing the battle of Quatre Bras an event which 

 afforded Lord Byron a theme for one of his most 

 magnificent passages in verse, and which was also 

 selected by Thackeray as a key to his interesting 

 novel, ' Vanity Fair/ No one had more anecdotes 

 to tell about that " king -making victory " than 

 the fourth Duke and his accomplished wife, the 

 daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon. 

 The fourth Duchess of Richmond brought that 

 noble Scottish property, Gordon Castle, together 

 with the deer-forest of Glenfiddich, and many 

 miles of the Spey, a magnificent salmon river, 

 into the possession of the Lennox family. Gor- 

 don Castle has for many years been the autumn 

 retreat of the late and the present Dukes of 

 Richmond, who resorted to it every year with 

 increasing delight. It was not until the death 

 in 1836 of his maternal uncle, George, fifth Duke 

 of Gordon, that the fifth Duke of Richmond as- 

 sumed the additional name of Gordon. From the 

 same uncle he also succeeded to the hereditary 

 constableship of Inverness Castle. 



As a racing man, the Duke of Richmond dif- 

 ered in many respects from Lord George Ben- 

 tinck. The former was as concise as the latter 

 was voluminous in his private letters. His Grace 

 regarded five or six lines as a long letter for him 



