118 'OLD q' 



spite of his indisposition, records his being at 

 Delaval's ^ to supper with the ' opera -girls, who 

 are very pretty,' and asserts, ' We live high,' informa- 

 tion scarcely foreign to his 'dear George.' With 

 tender regards to la cava Luisina, his lordship con- 

 cludes a very typical man-about-town letter. 



The next communication to Selwyn^ March dates 

 from Piccadilly, perhaps from the house of a friend, 

 as the after correspondence is written from Seymour 

 Place, In this his lordship hopes that after ' these 



d d races' (at Newmarket) he will have money 



and spirits to set out for Paris, where he had long 

 purposed going. This letter is followed by one ten 



days later, ^ after his return from ' those d d 



races ' with both pelf and spirits, for he says : ' I 

 am returned with my pockets full by the second 

 meeting, clear gain four thousand one hundred 

 guineas ! ' plus the pleasure of being indebted to his 

 ' dear George ' for it, ' as without your money,' he 

 coolly tells Selwyn, ' I could not have risked so much.' 

 This proves Lord March to have been not only a 

 shrewd, but a bold speculator in the ring ; though 

 in his jubilation he remarks, with true philosophy, 

 that he ' does not forget he may be poor again.' 



^ Sir Francis Delaval, a singular character of those times. 

 2 Appendix T. ^ Appendix U. 



