The intrigue of the Court of Louis XV is powerfully at work in this romance centered about the saturnine figure of Charles Macdonald, son of James, and Eatherine, exiled from their native Scotland to France after the Stuart rising in the Highlands in 1745. To bring money and leadership to their lands, the elder Macdonalds force Charles to marry his wealthy French cousin Anne de Bernard, who in her turn loves him and is determined to gain his love. The savage Charles accedes to the marriage but will not accept it in good faith: he returns to Versailles and his mistress Louise de Vitale. Louise, to secure his love, has spies in Anne's Paris house, and when Anne's admirer Francis O'Neil leaves for Metz, goes ruthlessly on in her plotting. She defies the fury of Louis' favorite Madame Du Barry by bringing a new girl to his bed, thus securing the notorious lettre de ??achet that leads to Anne's disappearance and imprisonment. Du Barry and Charles become wise at last; Lucille dies a tortured death for her troubles, while Charles storms the Bastille to escape with Anne and the child she is about to bear. His daughter survives; Anne does not, and he takes the babe in secret to Scotland. The court is seen in all its rouge; the high color of this tale suits it well for an undemanding, feminine fling.
