He was taxed with the barbarity, but denied it.

The Duchess thereupon walked back and found the wire.  She and the Duke then bought up the horse, cart, harness, and herrings, rejecting the only worthless part of the lot—­the man.

Sandy’s greed and Sandy’s conscience were most likely on a par in their flinty qualities, and the dour Scot would be glad to bargain with the Duchess again on similar terms, eliminating the factor of humanitarianism.

On another occasion she is presiding at the annual meeting of the local branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at Grantham.  “Such meetings as these,” she told her audience, “are valuable because they call attention to the cruelty which exists in such forms as the decrepit horse traffic, of which the general public has little or no knowledge.  To be ignorant may save trouble; but if it makes us indifferent and lethargic with regard to suffering, when we ought to be helpers in the cause of humanity, the sooner we increase our knowledge the better we shall be able to stop this great evil and rouse public opinion on the valuable work done by the officers of the Society.”

Again she is a visitor at Mansfield to distribute the prizes in connection with singing, needlework, and other competitions organized by the girls’ clubs in the district.  She spoke of these competitions as promoting a healthy spirit of rivalry, and promised to give a silver shield for proficiency in physical drill among girls.

Her catholic spirit was evinced on her attendance one day early in February, 1907, at the Mikado Cafe, Nottingham, when the members of a Sunday afternoon Wesleyan Bible Class, numbering ninety men, assembled for dinner.  She expressed her interest in the aims of the Bible Class and in all efforts for the encouragement of right living.  A bouquet was presented to her from the members.

The Duchess as a flower-seller was a delightful attraction at a Church bazaar at Sutton-in-Ashfield, a town where there is considerable ducal property.  In a graceful little speech declaring the bazaar open she said:  “I know you are all tired of bazaars and desirous of adopting some better method of collecting money, if such could be devised, but until some brilliant or practical mind finds such a way, you are forced to move in the old groove and repeat the same efforts.”

The story of borrowing half a sovereign is not the only well-authenticated instance of her Grace having to negotiate a loan in consequence of her liberal instincts having prompted her to outrun the resources of her pocket.

After opening a bazaar for the Newark Hospital she passed round the stalls and made purchases freely, so that by the time she had made the round she had completely exhausted her purse.  It was necessary that she should have enough to pay her railway fare to London, whither she wished to travel, and the honour of tending her the amount she wanted, fell to one of the stewards.  The loan, I believe, was promptly repaid.