CHAPTER XVI 



Lord March and riding orders — Opera-girls and petit soupers — 

 Selwyn's cash to the rescue— Lord March and high living — Result 



of the ' d d races ' for his lordship's purse — A stomach at forty ! — 



Mutual obligations of March and Sehvyn — La Rena — The stage — Lord 

 March takes his ' little girl ' to Newmarket — Trepidations — A com- 

 mission to Selwyn. 



Whether Lord March is to be credited with the 

 initiation of riding to order on the Turf, is dubious ; 

 but that this latter-day practice was not then con- 

 sidered comme il faut the following anecdote proves. 

 When asked ' too soon ' and ' too loud ' by a light- 

 weight at a race meeting, while Lord March was 

 conversing with some fellow-members of the Jockey 

 Club, ' how he was to ride to-day ? ' his lordship, 

 knowing he was overheard, turned sharply round 

 and exclaimed : ' Why, take the lead and keep it, to 

 be sure ! How the devil would you ride ? ' a clear 

 proof that riding to order was then not common; 

 also that his lordship did not gratuitously supply 

 racing craft to bystanders. 



A letter ^ of his lordship's to Selwyn, dated October 



^ Appendix S. 



