[Gutenberg 21313] • In Honour's Cause: A Tale of the Days of George the First

This book is set in the Court of George the First, a Hanoverian King who was not very popular. To make himself feel more comfortable he had introduced into his Court a number of German people, and also Dutch ones. The hero of the story is 17-year old Frank Gowan, who is a page in the ante-room of the Prince of Wales, the King's eldest son. His father is an officer in the King's Guard. Another page is Andrew, whose father is pro-Jacobite, as Andrew is himself. One evening a German Baron deliberately insults Frank's father, and a duel ensues, in which the German is very badly wounded, but eventually recovers. However, Frank's father, who is very loyal to the King, is sentenced to be kicked out of his Regiment, and to leave the country. The rest of the book is a series of searches for Frank's father, Sir Robert Gowan, roof-top escapes, working out who are the spies, and who the heroes in disguise. Most of the action takes place in the Palace, in the Park which is still adjacent (and a very pretty part of London), and in a house in a street just the other side of the Park from Saint James's Palace. As always with this author there are a number of close shaves.