Read Online Mask of Duplicity (The Jacobite Chronicles Book 1) by Julia Brannan - Free Book Online

own country at the same time? By avoiding war Walpole allowed the king to establish himself. He’ll be much harder to uproot now.”
    “I’m not so sure of that,” Thomas countered. “France managed to take Lorraine and strengthen its connections with other countries. If it succeeds in conquering Austria, it will be well on the way to taking control of the whole of Europe. If Walpole was still the minister, we’d no doubt be abandoning Marie Theresa to her fate in the interests of peace.”
    Everyone had sympathy for the young Marie Theresa, who, on the death of her father Charles VI, had succeeded to the dominions of Austria. The powers of Europe, recognising her helplessness, had been overwhelmed with greed, and King Frederick of Prussia with France’s support had invaded the Austrian province of Silesia. Walpole had attempted to reconcile Austria and Prussia, to no effect, and King George II, eager for war, had promised help to the beleaguered young Empress.
    “Yes, but why is George promising help to Marie Theresa? Because his beloved Hanover is threatened, that’s why. He’s never liked Britain, and nor did his father before him. He only took the throne because he thought it would help his electorate,” Graeme put in. “All we are to him is a source of revenue and troops.”
    “That’s right. The sooner we have a king who cares about the country, the better, I say,” John said. “I’ve no great love for France but if they help us get the Stuarts back on the throne where they belong, good luck to them.”
    Beth had remained quiet up to now, enjoying the animated expressions on the others’ faces. Ben and Mary, as yet too young to participate in the debate, were listening attentively. Beth sincerely hoped that however their political views developed, they would always be able to have differences of opinions with their friends without making enemies of them.
    “Who knows what will happen while the Elector is away fighting his war? It’s a prime opportunity for Prince Charles to invade, if he can persuade the French to help him,” Beth said wistfully.
    Jane shuddered at the thought of a Catholic monarch regaining the throne and the persecution that Protestants could then expect to suffer.
    “Yes, but there’s no proof that Charles is as fanatical a Catholic as his grandfather was,” Beth countered when Jane expressed her views. “I’m sure he will have learned from James’s mistakes. He would hardly want to alienate most of his people, if he succeeded in regaining the throne for his father.”
    “Yes, but that’s the problem, Beth,” Thomas said, automatically abandoning the formal ‘Miss Elizabeth’ now that Richard was absent. “Charles may be liberal. But the old Pretender is certainly not, and it’s he who will be king if his son succeeds in a rebellion.”
    “I think he’ll abdicate in favour of Prince Charles, if it comes to it,” said John.
    No one had thought of this, but it certainly made sense. James III, or the Old Pretender as his enemies called him, seemed to have now accepted his exile following his abortive attempt at an invasion over twenty years ago. His fiery eldest son, Charles Edward, was a completely different matter.
    “It’s true James isn’t as young as he was,” Graeme said after a minute. “But at least he tried to get his throne back, which is more than his father did. Oh, those were good days, when we marched on Lancaster. You should have heard the pipes and seen the men, thousands of them, singing as they went and proclaiming King James all the way.” His eyes misted over as he remembered the ’15, as it was now called, when he had left his home in Kendal as a young man to join the Jacobite forces invading England to regain the throne for James.
    “King James wasn’t there though, was he?” Thomas replied dryly. “By the time he landed in Scotland the rebellion was all but over.”
    “That’s true. But it was no fault of his that he was late