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Beau Nash at Tunbndge Wells
of music to be under their awe and direction. They were his servants; he was their patron." When the Duchess of Queensberry appeared at a ball wearing a white apron, he took it off and threw it on a bench, remarking quietly, " None but Abigails appear in white aprons." When a man one evening entered the Rooms in the costume he had worn on the road, booted and spurred, with a whip in his hand, Nash went up to him, bade him welcome, and begged humbly to remind him of something he had forgotten. The visitor innocently asked what it was. " Why, sir," replied Nash, " I see you have got your boots and spurs, and whip, but you have unfortunately left your horse behind." Not even royalty could induce him to make an exception in its favour. It was his rule that all entertainments should cease at eleven. When Princess Amelia, the autocratic daughter of George II, was there, she did not wish the ball to cease at that hour and asked for one more dance, adding, when Nash looked at her with well-feigned amazement, " Remember, I am a Princess." " Yes, Ma'am," he replied; "but / reign here, and \ my laws must be kept."
Doubtless his treatment of royalty, aristo-K 145 |
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