think the offer over, and handed the sum over at breakfast the next
morning. No sooner had the forfeit been paid than Mr Mostyn, who was
sitting at the same table, looked up quietly and said: "I'll take the
lot, Bentinck, at L10,000, and will give you a cheque before you go on
the course." "If you please," was Lord George's placid answer; and thus
ended one of the most brilliant Turf careers on record.

And now for the irony of Fate! Among the stud thus sold, in a fit of
pique, for "an old song" was Surplice, the winner of the next year's
Derby and St Leger. Lord George had actually had the great prize in his
hand and had let it go!

How keenly he felt the blow may be gathered from the following passage
in Lord Beaconsfield's biography:

"A few days before--it was the day after the Derby, May
25, 1848--the writer met Lord George Bentinck in the
library of the House of Commons. He was standing before
the bookshelves with a volume in his hand, and his
countenance was greatly disturbed. His resolution in
favour of the Colonial interest, after all his labours,
had been negatived by the Committee on the 22nd; and on
the 24th, his horse, Surplice, whom he had parted with
among the rest of the stud, had won that paramount and
Olympic stake, to gain which had been the object of his
life. He had nothing to console him, and nothing to
sustain him, except his pride. Even that deserted him
before a heart, which he knew at least could yield him
sympathy. He gave a sort of superb groan.

"'All my life I have been trying for this, and for what
have I sacrificed it?' he murmured. It was in vain to
offer solace.

"'You do not know what the Derby is,' he moaned.

"'Yes, I do; it is the Blue Riband of the Turf.'

"'It is the Blue Riband of the Turf,' he slowly repeated
to himself; and, sitting down at a table, buried himself
in a folio of statistics."

Just a few months later, on 21st September 1848, his body was found
lying, cold and stiff, in a meadow about a mile from Welbeck. That very
morning he had risen full of health and spirits, and at four o'clock in
the afternoon had set out to walk across country to Thoresby, Lord
Manvers' seat, where he was to spend a couple of days. He had sent on
his valet by road in advance; but the night fell, and Lord George never
made his appearance. A search with lanterns was institu