I would strongly recommend that you read the first five books in the series, Mask Of Duplicity, The Mask Revealed, The Gathering Storm, The Storm Breaks and Pursuit of Princes before starting this one! However, if you are determined not to, here’s a summary of the first five to help you enjoy Book Six…
The Story So Far
Book One – Mask of Duplicity
Following the death of their father, Elizabeth (Beth) Cunningham and her older half-brother Richard, a dragoon sergeant, are reunited after a thirteen-year separation, when he comes home to Manchester to claim his inheritance. He soon discovers that while their father’s will left her a large dowry, the investments which he has inherited will not be sufficient for him to further his military ambitions. He decides therefore to persuade his sister to renew the acquaintance with her aristocratic cousins, in the hope that her looks and dowry will attract a wealthy husband willing to purchase him a commission in the army. Beth refuses, partly because she is happy living an unrestricted lifestyle, and partly because the family rejected her father following his second marriage to her mother, a Scottish seamstress.
Richard, who has few scruples, then embarks on an increasingly vicious campaign to get her to comply with his wishes, threatening her beloved servants and herself. Finally, following a particularly brutal attack, she agrees to comply with his wishes, on the condition that once she is married, he will remove himself from her life entirely.
Her cousin, the pompous Lord Edward and his downtrodden sisters accept Richard and Beth back into the family, where she meets the interesting and gossipy, but very foppish Sir Anthony Peters. After a few weeks of living their monotonous lifestyle, Beth becomes extremely bored and sneaks off to town for a day, where she is followed by a footpad. Taking refuge in a disused room, she inadvertently comes upon a gang of Jacobite plotters, one of whom takes great pains to hide his face, although she notices a scar on his hand. They are impressed by her bravery and instead of killing her, escort her home. A secret Jacobite herself, she doesn’t tell her Hanoverian family what has happened, and soon repairs with them to London for the season.
Once there, she meets many new people and attracts a great number of suitors, but is not interested in any of them until she falls in love with Daniel, the Earl of Highbury’s son. The relationship progresses until she discovers that his main motivation for marrying her is to use her dowry to clear his gambling debts. She rejects him, but becomes increasingly depressed.
In the meantime, the Jacobite gang, the chief members of whom are Alex MacGregor (the scarred man) and his brothers Angus and Duncan, are operating in the London area, smuggling weapons, collecting information, visiting brothels etc.
Sir Anthony, now a regular visitor to the house, becomes a friend of sorts, and introduces her to his wide circle of acquaintance, including the King, the Duke of Cumberland and Edwin Harlow MP and his wife Caroline. Beth does not trust the painted Sir Anthony and thinks him physically repulsive, but finds him amusing. Following an ultimatum from her brother that if she keeps rejecting suitors he will find her a husband himself, she accepts a marriage proposal from Sir Anthony, partly because he seems kind, but chiefly because he has discovered a rosary belonging to her, and she is afraid he will denounce her as a Catholic, which would result in her rejection from society and her brother’s vengeance.
The night before her wedding, Beth is abducted by Daniel, who, in a desperate attempt to avoid being imprisoned for debt, attempts to marry her by force. Beth’s maid, Sarah, alerts the Cunninghams and Sir Anthony to Beth’s plight, and she is rescued by her fiancé. He then gives her the option to call off the wedding, but thinking that being married to him is the best of the limited options she has available to her, she agrees to go ahead as planned.
Book Two – The Mask Revealed
Sir Anthony and Beth marry. The following evening at a function, he has to remove his glove and she sees his hand and its scar for the first time, and remembers where she has seen it before. Having removed his furious wife by force from the company before she can give him away, Sir Anthony admits that he is a Jacobite spy, and that he is really Alex MacGregor. He explains the odd circumstances that led him to follow such a strange double life, and admits that he married her mainly for love, intends to make her dowry over to her and effect a separation, thereby giving her her freedom. She, being of a very adventurous spirit, refuses, stating that she intends to stay with him. He tries to persuade her against this, as his lifestyle is a dangerous one, but eventually he agrees, and they go on honeymoon to Europe together, as Sir Anthony and wife.
He explains that he will be visiting Prince Charles Stuart, son of the exiled King James, as a few weeks ago the Duke of Newcastle, not knowing him to be a Jacobite spy, recruited him on behalf of the Hanoverians, to become acquainted with the prince and report back any useful information.
On the way to Rome, Angus (who has accompanied them as a servant) overhears a private conversation between two French courtiers, in which it is revealed that King Louis of France is secretly planning to invade England, and that one of the men (Henri), intends to give the plans to the British. Alex now decides he must do something to prevent this, but must first carry on to meet Charles and convey the news of the prospective invasion to him. He does, and Beth and Alex are married again in Rome under their real names.
After giving a misleading report of his meeting with Charles to Sir Horace Mann who is the Hanoverian envoy in Florence, Alex, Beth and Angus travel to France, where, at Versailles, Beth becomes acquainted with, and starts to like, the man Henri. Alex, as Sir Anthony, pretends jealousy and challenges Henri to a duel, during which he kills him, as though by accident.
Beth, having not been entrusted with his plans, and also having been kept in the dark about some other things, is very hurt and leaves suddenly, travelling back first to London and then Manchester, on her own, where she settles in with her ex-servants.
Alex’s return is delayed as he is held in prison for duelling. He sends Angus to Rome to stop Prince Charles riding to Paris to join the invasion and thereby raising British suspicion and Louis’ anger. Alex then returns home to London, where he is expecting Beth to be waiting for him. When he discovers she has left, he follows her to Manchester, where they are reconciled.
Book Three – The Gathering Storm
Following their reconciliation, Beth and Alex return to London, where Beth engineers a marriage between Anne Maynard and Lord Redburn. The prospective French invasion of England is unsuccessful and shortly afterwards the MacGregors journey to Scotland, where Beth meets the rest of her clan and is initiated into the Highland way of life, which she adapts to very quickly. She also meets her MacDonald relatives, including her grandmother, now a very old lady. During a short stop in Edinburgh, Beth, accompanied by Duncan, unexpectedly encounters Lord Daniel, and after an acrimonious and almost violent exchange, Beth realises he is now her sworn enemy.
On their reluctant return to London, Beth is confronted by her brother Richard, requesting funds from Sir Anthony. Incensed by this, Beth ejects him from her home, whereupon he secretly courts and marries Anne, who is now the wealthy widow of Lord Redburn. Beth is concerned about the safety of Anne, and Lord Redburn’s unborn child, whom Anne carries.
Prince Charles lands prematurely in Scotland, and the clans start to rally to him. Alex sends Duncan and Angus to raise the clan but he, as Sir Anthony, feels that he will be of more use gathering information if he remains with his wife in London. He consoles himself with the knowledge that this will be a temporary measure, and he will soon be able to take his rightful place as chieftain of his clan in Scotland and fight for the Stuart cause.
Whilst attending a social evening at the house of the Prince of Wales, Sir Anthony is challenged to a duel by Lord Daniel, which he declines to accept. The prince sides with the Peters and Daniel vows revenge. He begins secretly investigating Sir Anthony’s background.
Shortly after this encounter Alex receives a message from Prince Charles, asking him to stay in London gathering information about troop movements, until the invasion is over, and James III and VIII is crowned in London. Alex is distraught, but cannot refuse a direct request from his prince, so reluctantly accepts that he must remain Sir Anthony for the foreseeable future.
Book Four – The Storm Breaks
Alex discovers that he is about to be betrayed and he and Beth flee and join the rebels at Edinburgh, where the Jacobites are victorious in the battle of Prestonpans. The Jacobite army then begins its progress southwards, arriving in Manchester, with more people rallying to their call. At Derby, much against the wishes of Alex and many other members of the clans, it is decided that the army should not march on London, but retreat to Scotland to await French reinforcements.
On reaching Manchester, Beth discovers the child Ann, daughter of her servant Martha who was dismissed by Richard on his first arrival home. The child has suffered badly at the hands of her mother’s killer, who Beth suspects is Richard. Alex doubts her suspicions, and Beth is driven to tell him of her brother’s attack on her. Alex is enraged that she has not trusted him and this leads to an estrangement between them. The army continues northward and Beth, convinced that their marriage is over, attempts to leave Alex. She is attacked and in rescuing her, Alex realises what he has nearly lost, and they are reconciled.
They continue northwards, where the Jacobite army eventually meets with Cumberland and the government forces at Culloden, while the women, led by Beth, shelter in a barn. The battle is lost, Duncan is killed and Alex badly wounded. Angus, after getting his brother to safety, goes in search of the women.
Their hideout has been discovered by a group of rampaging soldiers. The sergeant stabs Maggie, Beth kills him and whilst running away is recognised by the Duke of Cumberland, who gives the command not to shoot her, but too late. The remaining women are raped and killed and their bodies burnt with the barn. When Angus arrives he finds Maggie who tells him of Beth’s death, before dying herself. Angus searches for but cannot find Beth’s body, and assumes it has been burnt along with the others.
He returns to Ruthven, where the surviving Jacobites have gathered, determined to fight on. He tells Iain and Alex the bad news. The MacGregors resolve to continue the rebellion and avenge the death of Maggie and Beth.
Book Five – Pursuit of Princes
Once sufficiently healed, Alex, believing Beth to be dead, briefly joins with Lochiel and the Camerons in an attempt to assemble enough clansmen to continue the rising. However, as part of the Duke of Cumberland’s design to destroy the Highlanders’ way of life forever, a large body of British soldiers is sent to the Cameron lands in an attempt to both capture Lochiel and exterminate his entire clan. Lochiel and his men, along with the MacGregors, succeed in escaping, but have to acknowledge that for now at least, the rising is over.
Alex returns home and concentrates all his energy on pursuing his blood oath, along with a select number of clansmen. Together they conduct a variety of raids, including a highly successful infiltration of Fort Augustus in which Alex, posing as an English cattle dealer, succeeds in liberating two thousand cattle confiscated from the now starving clans by the redcoats.
Following this, Alex meets with Prince Charles, who is still in hiding in the Highlands, being sheltered by a number of loyal clanspeople and seeking passage back to France, where he hopes to persuade King Louis to assist in a further expedition. Whilst in his company, Alex learns that John Murray of Broughton, the prince’s former secretary, has been arrested, and has agreed to inform on his former associates in exchange for his life. Realising Broughton knows the true identity of Sir Anthony, the MacGregors go into hiding in case they are betrayed. Beth’s cousin Allan MacDonald joins the MacGregors to fight, and Angus and Morag marry. After five months of hiding in the heather, Prince Charles, along with Lochiel, succeeds in taking ship for France.
After a brief visit home, Sarah returns to London with her baby niece, her sister having died in childbirth. As the baby is illegitimate and has no other relatives, Sarah resolves to bring her up herself.
In the meantime Beth, having been rescued by the Duke of Cumberland, is conveyed to the Tower of London, where she is nursed back to health and lodged in luxurious apartments. Once well, she is interviewed firstly by the Duke of Newcastle and later by Cumberland himself, but refuses to reveal anything about the identity of Sir Anthony Peters. She is sent to the notorious Newgate Prison, in the hopes that a stay in a filthy and overcrowded vermin-ridden cell will encourage her to betray her husband. When this fails to succeed in breaking her resolve, Newcastle sends for Richard, who agrees to interrogate her in an attempt to obtain the information.
Beth has discovered she is pregnant, but following Richard’s brutal interrogation, she miscarries, and Newcastle, realising that nothing will now break her, orders her to be kept in solitary confinement and quietly starved to death.
But the redcoat soldier who was guarding Beth prior to Richard’s brutal attack confides in his brother, who, being a former servant of Lord Edward, recognises the description of Beth and tells Sarah. She enlists the help of Caroline, and with the assistance of Prince Frederick himself, they succeed in locating Beth and liberating her from her cell.
At death’s door, she is conveyed to Caroline’s and through the ministrations of her friends, together with the expertise of Prince Frederick’s physician she recovers, although, convinced that Alex must be dead, she has no real desire to live. She discovers that Richard is attempting to obtain custody of his wife’s son by her first marriage, and that Sarah is also in fear for her life, and is determined to kill him if he visits her. Having no reason to live, but realising that if she takes her own life she will have committed a mortal sin and will therefore never be reunited with her husband in Heaven, she decides to kill two birds with one stone, as it were.
She seeks an interview with the Duke of Newcastle, who agrees, believing she has finally seen sense. At their meeting she denounces Richard as a traitor, stating that he knew Sir Anthony was a spy, but accepted payment to keep quiet. But she refuses to reveal any information about Sir Anthony, and hopes Newcastle will now have her executed.
In the meantime, in the continuation of fulfilling his blood oath, Alex encounters Richard, who is engaged in torturing a woman. Alex badly wounds his brother-in-law, but before Richard dies he tells Alex that Beth is very much alive, and is in Newgate Prison. He reveals gleefully that he beat her so badly that she miscarried their child, and Alex kills him in a rage.
He then resolves to go to London to discover if Beth is, indeed, still alive.