f Harcourt House where the great myth
descended unseen to his room.

Harcourt House, Cavendish-square, was a famous London mansion, for many
years in the possession of the Dukes of Portland. The building of this
stately town residence was commenced in 1722 for Earl Harcourt. It had
a noble courtyard facing Cavendish-square, and an imposing _porte
cochere_, with a large garden and wide-spreading trees, which were such
extraordinary features to be found as adjuncts to the old London palaces
of the nobility. Then there was a range of stabling enough to
accommodate the stud of a monarch.

This noble mansion was gambled away at a card-party when the stakes were
high and the players were the third Duke, grandfather of the eccentric
peer, and Earl Harcourt. Thus it came into possession of the Bentincks.

During the occupancy of the fifth Duke, the curious freaks of building
for which he was so famous at Welbeck were repeated at Harcourt House.
He had the garden enclosed with a gigantic screen of ground-glass,
extending for 200 feet on each side and 80 feet high. His object in
having this screen constructed was that the residents of
Henrietta-street and Wigmore-street might be prevented from seeing into
the garden and possibly catching a glimpse of his Grace when taking a
stroll.

The gamble for Harcourt House was commuted into a leasehold tenancy by
the intervention of the lawyers, who declared that the ownership of the
mansion could not be separated from the rest of the estate.

In more recent years the leasehold interest was purchased by the Earl of
Breadalbane, and on its expiration, it eventually came to Sir William
Harcourt, the statesman, and in August, 1904, was offered for sale. The
site of the beautiful garden, with its screen and stables, was purchased
by the Post-office authorities. _Sic gloria transit_ of one of the
famous houses of London.

Though he had such magnificent palaces, both in Sherwood Forest and in
London, the Duke was not given to entertaining guests after the manner
of a great noble. His father had sent the family plate to be kept by
Messrs. Drummond, bankers, and it was the current belief that the son
never had it from the vaults of the bank to grace his tables at Welbeck
or Harcourt House.

His sisters seldom visited him, although one of them, Lady Ossington,
lived at Ossington Hall, about 15 miles away, in the same county as
Welbeck.

The gossips of his lifetime would have it that his pe