 Upon Queen Victoria 's death , Louise entered the social circle of her brother , the new King Edward VII , with whom she had much in common , including smoking . She had an obsession with physical fitness , and if she was sneered at for this , she would retort by saying : " Never mind , I 'll outlive you all . " Meanwhile , Louise 's husband , 9th Duke of Argyll since 1900 , took his seat in the House of Lords . The Colonial Secretary , Joseph Chamberlain , offered him the office of Governor @-@ General of Australia that year , but the offer was declined . Louise continued her sculpture , and in 1902 , designed a memorial to the colonial soldiers who died in the Boer War . In the same year , she began a nude study on a married woman suggested by the English painter Sir William Blake Richmond . 
