Mercer, whom she presented to Marianne Stanhope at the party on March
18th, was, as she was well aware, a man greatly in request in society, and
to whom an introduction was eagerly coveted on account of his exceptional
talent for music. Gifted with a remarkably fine voice, he sang duets in
company with a friend, in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English.
"Mercer's voice and both their tastes are exquisite," relates Lord
Glenbervie at this date. "They accompany themselves, Mercer on the
Pianoforte, Gill on a Spanish guitar, which he has had made under his own
directions in London. Their foreign airs and words they have chiefly
picked up recently from ballad-singers in the streets."

Marianne Stanhope was therefore fortunate in securing this acquaintance,
as she was in having for a partner "Mr Cooke of the Guards," better known
in London society as "Kangaroo Cooke," for many years private aide-de-camp
and secretary to the Duke of York, and of whom Gronow relates that, "He
was in the best society and always attracted attention by his dandified
mode of dress." Still more, besides frequenting all the _Ton_ parties in
London at night, during the day he was invariably to be seen somewhere
between the barracks of the Horse Guards and the premises of Weston the
tailor in Bond Street, an ultra-fashionable promenade, which he paced and
re-paced, thus satisfactorily exhibiting the beauty of his clothes and
encountering the most select members of his acquaintance.

The curious nickname which clung to this dandy through life is usually
ascribed to a quaint resemblance noticeable in him to the Australian
quadruped after which he was called; but others attributed it rather to
the leaps and bounds by which he advanced socially, though on account of
his connections and the exquisite perfection of his dress this could not
be considered surprising. The fact that he bore such a name was well known
to him, and only on one occasion did it cause him any annoyance. Once,