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Scotland forever!

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Seems like something has gone wrong if James has return as the Stadtholder and not the King, then I think it is very important that he hides the crown. I wonder how all this will turn out, but I am sure James will do his best and utmost to solve this tricky situation…
 
The meeting, which James walked into turned out to be a meeting with English and Scottish members of parliament. They had deposed their king, and their sole purpose was to sound William on his ideas about European politics. Their armies were at war with that of the old king.
James suspected they thought about offering him the combined crown of Scotland and England. In that case, of course he would need permission of the Staten Generaal, the Dutch parliament.
And he also understood from their questions that not all representatives thought he would be a good candidate - he might have the Netherlands closer at heart than Scotland and England.

Well, he could easily deal with that.
"Gentlemen", he said, "Some of you may feel that it would create a mix of conflicting interests if I am both the stadtholder of the Dutch provinces and the king of Scotland and England. And right you are - there certainly are conflicting interests in trade, though our countries have held a commons foreign policy for decades."
He left a deliberate silence before continuing.
"However, as a token of my sincere interest in the Scottish and Enmglish interests, I want to give you an item that has been lost for a very long time, and that has come into my possesion for only a few hours."
He took the crown out of the bag he had brought with him, and handed their leader the crown.
"I am not allowed to tell you how it came into my possesion, but be assured that it has been in the Netherlands for less than a day. This is the crown of England."

The men opposite him gazed at him :
"How on earth ...."
William / James smiled.
"As I said, I can not explain it. Let me hand it to you with the assurance that where Scottish and English interests on the one hand and Dutch interests on the other hand collide, I will do my utmost to find the best solution for all parties involved."

The members of parliament looked at each other. One nodded to the others.
Then one of them declared:
"In the name of the parliaments of Scotland and England, we ask you to become King of Scotland and England."
James laughed:
"I will command the armies of parliament?"
They nodded.
"But we wouldnt mind if Dutch troops landed on Scottish soil for this purpose."
James smiled:
"I will talk to the Staten Generaal"
 
So that is why James was moved back as a Dutchman, he has returned as King William. Well that was kind of surprising, but very cool :)
 
Lord E said:
So that is why James was moved back as a Dutchman, he has returned as King William. Well that was kind of surprising, but very cool :)
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Thank you. :)

Btw, I'll be on holiday for nearly a month, though we'll be home one weekend in between. I'll try to post an issue that weekend, but dotn be too surprised if nothing is forthcoming.
 
The Dutch army had crossed the North Sea and had landed without opposition in Northern England. A rebel army, as he called it, had been besieging a town. His army defeated it with ease.

James looked at the various peace proposals which had passed between France and Scotland. The Scottish - French war he had witnessed before left for home, had lasted for decades. Scotland had given up on receiving 3 provinces, and settled for 2 provinces. That left Paris an isolated capital between Scottish and Dutch lands, with the rest of the French kingdom in the south.
James grinned when he found that the scottish clerks, after the Scottish conquest of England, had ended every peace proposal with "the king of Scotland, England and France.". That sentence certainly hadn't brought the French king in a good mood.

France had finally accepted, but declared war the day after the obligatory 5 year period was over. This war was still raging on.

James wrote a new peace proposal, asking just for one province. This modesty wouldnt do Scottish international reputation any good, but the demand certainly was limited, considering the 4 Frencgh provinces that Scotland now held. He guessed this was all he could do for the moment.

Time to leave and return to his own planet. There were some very intriguing questions he had to ask.
 
Seems like Scotland is still making great progress, the evil French are defeated once more. Now let us hope James’s return voyage is uneventful and that he will get the answers he is seeking…
 
Dick stared at the paper with amazement. He rubbed first his eyes, than the paper in front of him to seen if his eyes were malfunctioning, Cheryl Parties Management had formulated an offer for the farewell party, both for the class which was leaving school, and the farewell for the officesr of the spacefleets which were supporting them.
"You want me to ask approval for a party that costs 10% of the annual budget of our entire planet? Who do you think Betsies father is? Santa Claus? Who do you think I am? The planets most celebrated fool? 10% of the planetary annual budget for a school party?"
Cheryl chipped in:
"Oh, but you agreed we would have contests: dancing, sailing, fencing, eloquency, you name it. And of course there should be prizes and a stadion, and ..."
"Humbug! Thrice mauled humbug! We are not gonna build a stadium for a schoolparty! Let alone three stadions! And for the prices, think of something else. "
"But it isnt just for a school party, it is also the thank you party for the spacefleets. Our planet should show itself from its most magnificient side".
Dick shoved the paper back:
"Even then you can come back with a realistic budget. Now I understand James reamrk about ruining a country by giving a party."
Cheryls eyes shot flames, grabbed the paper anmd left.
 
Cheryl should have expected this I guess, 10% of the annual budget :eek: that sure is a lot of money, so I can understand that they say no. Let us just hope this doesn’t make her get the wrong ideas again and do something stupid once more…
 
Betsy rode through the hills of what had been northern England. Even in the coach it was cold, and she pitied the driver and her escort. Squalls of cold rain were drifting by. and this was called summer. Last winter had seen a fair amount of ice in the channel.

Locating the ring on her planet hadnt taken much troubles. Cheryl had indicated the antique shop with unusual accuracy. The shopkeeper had sold the ring on, but the new owner was a regular customer whom he knew well. From there on, it had been a piece of cake.

She had taken the ring back to earth. To her surpise she was not only Mary, the wife of the dutch stadtholder, but als the queen of Scotland and England. Her husband William had beaten the armies of her father, the former Scottish king, and was now the king of Scotland and England. Mary was now on her way from The Hague to Northern Ireland, to join her husband.

But this part of Scotland was unreliable, and her escort was small. People were war waery. Also, after William had became King of Scotland, the Dutch parliament had thought the time ripe to offer Scotland the privilige to become a vassal of tghe Seven Provinces, something which greatly had enraged both the Scottish parliament and the Scottish pride. She and her husband were not loved very well here. In addition, this area was mainly Catholic, and rumours stated they wouyld like to see her father James back on the throne. Intelligence reports suggested French influence.

Darkness was falling early, and Mary ordered her driver to look for a shelter for the night. It would nt do to travel on during the night here. It took three more hours before her driver halted before a building.

"A priory, my lady" the driver reported.
"Ask shelter for the night" she ordered. Even though Catholic, its religious character would protect them, she reasoned.

She noticed the door was opened, and her driver winked her in. She followed him inside. It was dark. A nun or munk - she couldnt exactly see which - motioned her to follow him/her.

The four soldiers which constituted her escort dismounted and started to bring their horses through the main gate further on. The person ahead of her had a steady pace, and led her to a room, which she entered.

"Je vous souhaite le bien venue, madame. Mon nom est Antoine Rossignol."
The man opposite her was obviously not a monk. She knew that name. He was the head of the French "Cabinet noir", the department of the French king responsible for deciphering codes.
 
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btw, Lord E, not a bad idea at all. :eek:
 
Dick nodded aprovingly.
"0,1% of the planets annual budget. That is already a lot better."
He put down the paper and looked at Cheryl:
"But of course a few million is still excessive for a schoolparty"
Cheryl objected:
"I have cut out so much it is a national shame for our planet. You cannt cut back any more"
"Well, let's have a look."
They sat down and a few hours later Dick had something he thought he could propose with a reasonable chance of succes. The central idea remained a barbecue for the school students, where the officers of the space fleets would be invited too. Of course all that food costed money. The studenst would have two contests: dancing for the girls and for couples, and fencing.for the boys. There would be prices, but no excessive money. Bands from the crews and officers of the space fleets would have a third competition.
Daneel, who had been watching them in the background, nodded.
""This may be a good evening for the entire class"
 
Seems the party planning is progressing fine, but I fear more for Betsy travelling around Scotland like that, and now she is trapped with a Frenchman inside a building with just a few guards, this is not looking good at all…
 
welcome back from holiday, i presume?
 
Betsy shook her head:
"Suppose you and I are both in intelligence as you suggest. Then wouldnt we both know that both glasses are poisened, with you already having taken the antidote?"
"Am I am sorry you do not trust me."
"Let us get back to my question: How can this position have evolved into a heriditary position? I have studied the histories oif many nations, and everywhere the position is awarded on merits, on ability, not on lineage. What makes the position in the Dutch Republic so different?"
"The position is not heriditary. It is given to most able person. And that is not me. I do not yet hold it."
"Ahh! But you will!"
Betsy thought. She couldnt tell the guy that it was always she, as she had controlled the wife or lover of the stadtholder over the past few centuries. And that was the only reason it had turned into a kind of heriditary position.
She shook her head.
"You are the of the Cabinet Noir, arent you? You or your father came up with that name, I believe. Why did you call it that way?"
"Our results look like black magic" he grinned ""It hasnt to do anything with it, but often it doesnt harm to impress our enemies. Why?"
"I dont think you would believe me if I told the truth", Betsy replied.
"If you want me to believe anything in that line, forget it."
 
CitizenPaul said:
welcome back from holiday, i presume?
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Thanks, now it is time to start a new semester back at university. Hope you had a nice summer also?

I still find this type Betsy is meeting scary, I hope he doesn’t turn out to be a man with evil plans…
 
Betsy stood up and strided through the room, keeping a safe distance from Antoine Rossignol. Antoine followed her example.
"There are a number ancient manuscript in our family" Betsy started "Our family, that is the house of Orange. I have only partly been introduced to these manuscripts." Betsy had put great agitation in het voice. Sha had had to make up the story on the spot; the conversation in the school restaurant had provided inspiration. She noticed that Antoine Rossignol lost some of his reserve, but he was still critical:
"Ancient scrolls with spells?"
Besty looked angry at him:
"No, of course not! But to decipher a text, you count letters, you have formulas, dont you?"
Antoine nodded.
"Well, these manuscripts are about people. They help to predict the reactions of people. I dont know everything about them, "
"To predict people?" Antoine looked doubtful.
Betsy stapped towards him. Their faces were only some 10 centimeters apart.
"You dont believe me? The contents of these scrolls are the source of power of the Oranges."
He looked into her eyes.
Her fist shot out and hit Antoine at his temple. Mary was not a strong woman, but Rossignol was not a strong men either. He did not fall unconscious, but staggered back. Betsy took out a knive from the womans skirts, the hilt of the dagger hit the man anew on his temple and this time he sank down on the floor.
 
So Betsy decides to take care of the Frenchman the violent way, well she sure did react quickly and I think that this way she has removed any threat that he might have posed…. Let us just hope he hasn’t got some friends around.
 
Yes, thank you. we spent two weeks on a camping in another part pf the country, and a week in Switzerland.
 
Betsy reasoned that Antoine Rossignol would have preferred working with a small group in Scotland - every extra individual meant an extra security risk.

She took his pistol, bound the man with his own clothes, and set out to explore the abby. She heard two voices. Pistol in hand she advanced. The voices were French, and when she turned a corner she saw two men and a woman.
"Hands up!" she ordered.
The three obeyed. Betsy ordered the woman to bind the two men, then bound the woman herself.
Checking the men, she found that the woman had tried to trick her - the ropes were rather loose. She tied them up again and explored the rest of the abby.

In a room at the back of the building she discovers the nuns and both her guards. Relieved, she sends one of the guards to keep an eye on her captives. She sends the other to the nearest village to summon the sheriff. It turns out that Antoine Rossignol had already regained consciousness and has disappeared. The trio however has been left behind.

With the guards away, she turns to the prioress.
"Please keep this ring here in a safe place. It belongs to the royal family. Some time in the future someone will come to recollect it."
 
Good to see that Betsy manages to get out of this troublesome situation. Those Frenchmen sure are dangerous, so I am glad she took care of them all.
 
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