"Andre Norton & Rosemary Edghill - Carolus Rex 1 - The Shadow of Albion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

American colonies have never degenerated into warfare; in 1805 America is simply
the westernmost of EnglandтАЩs possessions. Its citizens are English citizens with full
representation in Parliament. It is governed (similarly to Ireland) by a Lord Protector;
in 1805 the Lord Protector of America is Thomas Jefferson, the Earl of Monticello.
Like Irish tides, American tides are considered тАЮsecond-classтАЬ titles, but many of the
nobility holds both English and American titles, and America is a popular destination
for land-hungry younger sons. The ties between the mother country and her vast
colony are becoming thinner with time, and political theorists predict that someday
America will govern itself practically free of any strong supervision from the
motherland.
One major divergence from history as we know it in this alternate 1805 is that the
Louisiana Purchase does not take place, and the thirteen coloniesтАЩ western
expansion is halted in vicinity of Kentucky (or, as it is known in this world,
Transylvania).
The French Revolution pf 1789 тАУ which occurs in both worlds тАУ is a shock to
both England and her New World colony. There were suggestions in our world at
the time that England intervene, which she does not do in either world. In 1795
Napoleon Bonaparte begins his climb to power and FranceтАЩs ambitions become
imperial. England goes to war once more. Though plagued by civil and religious
unrest at home, it is BritainтАЩs funding that keeps the Triple Alliance тАУ England,
Prussia, and Russia тАУ in the field against Napoleon. The simmering discontent at
home might break out into full-fledged civil war, however, were England suddenly
left without an heir.
Just as in the Real World, many European nations considered making a тАЮseparate
peaceтАЬ with Napoleon. A key flayer in this political arena is Denmark, which, as a
member of the Baltic League, vacillates between neutrality and a pro-French
position. A French-allied Denmark would cause Russia to withdraw from the Triple
Alliance.
In the Real World, England sent fleets to Denmark in 1801 and 1806 to keep
French sympathies at bay. In our world, the widowed King Henry DC of England
hopes to accomplish the same thing by betrothing his only son, James Charles Henry
David Robert Stuart, Prince of Wales and Duke of Gloucester, to Princess
Stephanie Julianna, granddaughter of the weak and vicious King Christian VII, whose
eldest son, Prince Frederick, is currently his Regent. This marriage, to one of the few
Protestant royal houses in Europe, will link Denmark firmly with the Allied cause.
And our story beginsтАж.
тАУ Andre Norton




Chapter 1
A Lady Bought with Magic
 (Wiltshire, April 1805)


The house had always been called Mooncoign, though it had passed through
several families before becoming King Charles IIIтАЩs gift to the first Marchioness of
Roxbury over a century ago. The Roxburys had reigned at Mooncoign for longer
than living memory ran, and to those within their domain, it seemed they always