Henrietta Anna married Henry, third Earl of Carnarvon; Isabella
Catharine married Charles, seventeenth Earl of Suffolk; Charlotte
married James Buller, father of Sir Redvers Buller; Juliene married
Sir John Ogilvay.
[Sidenote: NAME OF CRACKENTHORPE]
Soon after my arrival, I had gone out alone into the wild park of
Gobarrow, on a small mountain pony rejoicing in the classic name of
“Pacolet,” and very diminutive. Like Mazeppa, I “urged on my wild
career,” and naturally, the ground being quite new to me, lost my way:
so far so good, just what a heroine of romance ought to do; so on I
went, snatching a fearful joy, until I came to a large grip, which
Pacolet prudently refused. I was trying to persuade him to clear the
obstacle, when I perceived a man approaching, who promptly came to my
rescue, a gentleman, not remarkable for youth or beauty, but at least
chivalrous in his offer of assistance. I told him I was anxious to find
my way back to Greystoke Castle. My new acquaintance offered to escort
me, being bound for the same hospitable dwelling; this offer I
gratefully declined, as it would have entailed a foot’s pace, and I
preferred a hand-gallop. Pacolet was comforted when he found the grip
might be dispensed with, for I was turning my back on home; so following
the directions given me, and with the help of a few landmarks, I reached
Greystoke in safety, and on coming down to dinner, after a hurried
toilette, encountered my friend. Our recognition occasioned much
chaffing and bantering, and no small curiosity was manifested as to how
I could have possibly made his acquaintance. He was a middle-aged,
respectable-looking man, but for all that, the incident of our meeting
seemed invested with interest, and when dinner was over, I enquired the
name of the stranger, with the secret hope that he might be something in
the belted Will Howard line. I hope I shall be forgiven for having been
disappointed when I learned that he bore the time-honoured name of
Crackenthorpe.
“Oh those merry days when we were young”—those happy days at Greystoke!
What rides, what stag hunts by beautiful Ulleswater, on foot, on
horseback, in boat, up the fells, and on the lake. Untiring, strong, in
all the pride of youth and joyous spirits, with those beloved friends,
what wonder that I described myself to a distant correspondent on one
occasion as having “the courage of a lion, the strength of an elephant,
and the appetite of a wolf.” Our feats of horsemanship would have done
no discredit to a circus, and our palfreys were so well trained, that we
used to dance quadrilles, or waltz in the most approved fashion, and I
stoutly maintained that my chestnut, named Montilla, after the Cid’s
renowned steed, bore away the palm.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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