MRS LANGTRY AND AURUM 145 



ing week. Then through various agencies went out 

 paragraphs here, there and everywhere, and especially 

 to the Continental papers, commending Aurum, who 

 really was about the best horse ever bred in Australia, 

 Carbine not excepted. 



This had the desired effect, but much more than the 

 effect intended by me, for it not only brought over 

 Count Ivan Szapary and his two companions, but it 

 hardened Mrs Langtry's heart, like that of Pharaoh, 

 against letting the horse go. I thought her experience 

 of newspaper pars would have enabled her to not be 

 readily influenced, but it was not so, and she asked 

 7000 guineas for Aurum, who had never started in 

 England. 



Count Ivan Szapary and his two associates were 

 delighted with Aurum, and offered ^5800 for him, 

 subject to Mr E. H. Leach passing him sound. They 

 explained that this was all the money they had in the 

 treasury to spend on a stallion, and that they were not 

 trying to bargain. Mr Leach passed the horse all right, 

 and I urged Mrs Langtry to accept the offer, but she 

 would not, and that was the only time when I found 

 that good lady to be in my opinion foolish. I tried to 

 get the commissioners to say they would pay the 

 ^5800 down and the balance of 7000 guineas at the 

 convenience of their Government, but they had no 

 authority to do so, and so the negotiations failed. 



It was a tragic failure, too, for Aurum, whom we had 

 at Cobham, with a full subscription at 50 guineas for 

 two seasons, proved to be almost sterile, and later, when 

 he went to Mrs Langtry's own stud, the results obtained 

 were still worse. Finally an Australian who thought 

 he could do better than English people bought Aurum 



