184 'OLD q' 



had to sit down at its termination and reflect whether 

 nine hundred guineas made by winning four out of 

 thirty-nine engagements incurred was worth ' th' 

 pother,' though he had made up the difference 

 between the cost and maintenance of his stud and 

 its winnings in other ways. 



Whoever sought and obtained Queensberry's ser- 

 vices in committing the following breach of etiquette, 

 the fact is indisputable that no better nor more 

 appropriate choice could have been made than his 

 grace to introduce Madame du Barry to his Majesty 

 King George iii. That this was done during Sep- 

 tember 1791 we learn from Walpole : ^ ' . . . " Old Q " 

 — Queensberry — presented Madame du Barry to the 

 King on the terrace at Windsor, and the King of 

 England did not turn the same side that the late King 

 of France used to turn to her, but the reverse, as he 

 told Lord Onslow himself. It was a strange oblivion 

 of etiquette in an ancien gentilhomvie de la chambre, 

 and more so of one dismissed.' By this, there may 

 have been no instigator, except that the dashing 

 courtesan had prevailed on the Duke to commit an 

 act of folly. But what shall be said for the lady's 

 savoir faire ? The scribe of Marble Hill intimates 

 that although his Majesty George iii. turned his back 



' Letters and Memoirs of Walpole. 



