1837

Victoria became Queen in Britain.

Summer he fell in love with a seventeen year-old blonde beauty, Isabella Loraine-Smith. When they left Aachen he followed her. In Wiesbaden he lost a small fortune gambling. In September he was hoping they would be married. (Gall: he was 'well and truly betrothed to her, whether or not their engagement was official.' He wrote to one friend the wedding would 'probably take place in Leicestershire in late March'. )The English party returned home. His pursuit had made his debts worse, again he tried to salvage things in the casino. He had exceeded his leave by many weeks. At the end of September 1837 he returned to Kniephof 'poor in purse and sick at heart'. His debts took years to repay. In 1845 when asked what had happened, he replied that he had lost her to 'a colonel of 50 with one arm, 4 horses and 15,000 in revenues'. In 1840 she married a Harrovian banker and moved to Brixworth Hall. In 1844, Laura married the Earl of Musgrave.