Page:Notable Irishwomen.djvu/34

 Hamilton smile, the young Princess said, "My dear Duchess, you may laugh, you have been twice married, but it is no joke to me."

When her husband succeeded to the Dukedom of Argyll, Elizabeth Gunning remembered the prophecy of the fortune-teller in Capel Street, for she was doubly a duchess, an honour which only the present Duchess of Devonshire can claim. During the Wilkes riots in 1768 she behaved with great determination. Though her husband was absent and she was in delicate health, she stoutly refused to illuminate her house in Argyll Buildings at the bidding of the mob, who battered the doors and windows for three hours. She could always put down any impertinent people with true aristocratic hauteur. When her daughter, Lady Augusta Campbell, eloped with a Mr. Clavering, Lady Tweeddale saw fit to congratulate her on the event.

"No great joy, madam," she answered, "There was no occasion for Lady Augusta Campbell to marry."

She was the mother of no less than four dukes. Her two sons by her first marriage, James George and Douglas, both became Dukes of Hamilton, and her two sons by her second marriage, George William and John Douglas, both became Dukes of Argyll. The present Duke of Argyll is her direct descendant. What a destiny for a penniless Irish