The imperturbable Duke of Wellington remained at the ball till past midnight, constantly receiving messages and giving orders privately to the staff. He then quietly withdrew for the desperate encounter which was destined to be the crowning scene in a military career of unequalled brilliancy. The other officers gradually left the room and joined their regiments, many in their dancing pumps. The Duchess of Richmond and her daughters took no further part in the ball; her husband and two of her sons had accompanied the troops. But the girls generally are said to have shown great heartlessness. After saying farewell to their partners, many of them for the last time, they continued dancing for some hours. Meanwhile, drums, bugles, and pipes sounded the assembly through the silent streets; the soldiers came swarming out like bees, and Brussels was soon astir at the unwonted bustle. What followed is well known. Two days later Napoleon's pride was crushed by the most glorious victory ever won by British arms; and, alas, the voice of many a gallant soldier who, but a few hours before, had been a welcome guest at the historic ball in Brussels, was silent in the grave. The identity of the famous ball-room in Brussels has been the subject of much controversy. For many years it was assumed that the house had been pulled down and the ground built over. The villa occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Richmond has disappeared in the sense that it has been absorbed in the Hospital of the Augustinian Sisters; but it was established by the late Sir William Fraser to his own and the general satisfaction of the public, that the ball was never held in the villa. It took place in the store-room, hired for the occasion, of Mons. Simon, the coachmaker, he who built the famous carriage which Napoleon used in the campaign. It was separate from the villa, and still stands in the Rue de la Blanchisserie, in the lower part of the town, being part of the building which had returned a few years back to its original purpose of a coachmaker's factory and depôt. The room is a long barn-like one, with smooth, old-fashioned pillars, and a polished floor, and has been likened to the Lower School at Eton under Long Chamber--the same square, solid pillars, a low ceiling, and brick, whitewashed walls. From the "Military and Biographical Notices of the Fallen Heroes" (pamphlet): ROYAL SCOTS GREYS "_Honour to the Memory of the Brave._" The following is a list of the officers and men killed in action on the 18th June, 1815, belonging to the 2nd N. B. Dragoons (Scots Greys) given by Sir James Steuart, their Colonel:-- OFFICERS Lieut.-Col. Hamilton Capt. C. L. Barnard Lieut. T. Trotter Captain T. Reynolds Lieut. J. Carruthers Cornet T. C. Kinchant Cornet Edward Westby Cornet L. Shuldham