CHAPTER XXX 



Further reference to ' a ducal recipe ' — The Duke a great smoker at one 

 time — His grace and the ' hack ' — Charity — The last of the ' deep- 

 red jacket and black cap ' on the racecourse— Withdrawal from 

 the clubs — On the balcony of his Piccadilly house — Alarmiug con- 

 dition of his grace in 1807 — Reported as one of three who intended 

 to rebuild Drury Lane Theatre — Bets on his grace's death — He lays 

 a wager on the same himself. 



To return for a moment to 'a ducal recipe/ there 

 would seem to have been some truth in the midnight 

 meal administered. If the Duke awoke, an attendant 

 had some restorative in readiness, either to aid nature 

 or induce sleep. But I cannot discover that the 

 restorative took anything in the shape of a veal 

 cutlet at 3 o'clock a.m. 



Equally destitute of proof is the popular legend 

 that ' Old Q ' covered his face with raw veal at night 

 in the interest of his complexion. No doubt the latter 

 owed something to rouge. 



The chroniclers — and their name was legion — of 

 the Duke of Queensberry's movements do not men- 

 tion whether he adhered to a habit to which he 

 had been addicted to a great extent in his 'salad' 



I 



