Back to photostream

Agnus Dei or Who's Your Daddy?

"Lord Cornwallis objected to the union on the grounds that the Gordon blood was tainted by madness. This was not unfounded; Lord George Gordon's increasingly bizarre behavior had sparked the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots; it now manifested itself in conversion to Judaism, a floor-length gray beard, and the name Israel Abraham George Gordon. Jane [Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon] efficiently resolved this problem by confidentially informing Lord Cornwallis that "Louisa has not a drop of Gordon blood in her veins." This is perhaps fair enough, when the duke's extramarital record is taken into account; in any case it seems to have satisfied Lord Cornwallis, for the marriage went ahead."

 

from Robin Brooks's "The Portland Vase - The Extraordinary Odyssey of a Mysterious Roman Treasure", published in 2004 by Harper Collins Publishers (p.166)

3,143 views
9 faves
8 comments
Uploaded on October 23, 2016
Taken on September 23, 2016