ll probably be
presented at Court next season.

CHAPTER X

CLAIMS TO THE PORTLAND PEERAGE BY MRS. DRUCE AND MR. G.H. DRUCE.

Full of romance as the Portland peerage was up to recent years, there is
still another chapter to be added, in relating some of the statements
made in connection with the claims put forward by Mrs. Druce and Mr.
G.H. Druce to the honours and wealth of the Bentincks. It must be stated
emphatically that there is no intention whatever to comment upon these
claims or to prejudice their fair consideration, in the tribunals of the
land. No literary sketch of the great House of Portland would be
complete without it summarised the salient points in the Druce claims as
they have appeared from time to time in newspaper reports and in the
narratives of those who knew the fifth Duke in his lifetime. This
compilation is intended to epitomise the history of the illustrious
family of Bentinck in consecutive order of the events as they have
occurred, in such a manner as is not found in any other publication; but
in no way to influence opinion either on one side or the other. It was
in 1898 that public attention was called to the case, when Mrs. Druce
set up a claim to the Portland peerage on behalf of her son.

The ground on which it was based was that her father-in-law, Mr. Thomas
Charles Druce, and the fifth Duke of Portland were one and the same
person; that in fact the Duke had a double existence.

Mr. Druce was in a large way of business at the Baker-street Bazaar, an
enterprise opened about 1834 or 1835, with a capital estimated at
100,000l. At that time the Duke had not succeeded to his family
estates, but was Marquis of Titchfield. It was known that he and his
brothers had been successful in horse-racing and if, as Marquis, he
could spare 100,000l. to open this London business, some indication is
given of his winnings.

In the construction of the Bazaar it was said that there was an
underground passage leading from the back of the premises. By this means
of ingress or egress Druce could appear in the midst of his shopmen when
they least expected him and as suddenly vanish, possibly into an
underground passage, which it was believed was no myth, leading from
Baker-street to Harcourt House.

While conducting this important business at Baker-street, Mr. Druce
married in 1851 Annie May Berkeley, daughter of the Earl of Berkeley.
The Earl's marriage with this lady's mother had been disputed, an