aversion was owing to the determined dislike of the Queen to abdicate,
as it was her resolution, if there were no other person to be employed,
never to make Lord Lovat an instrument of her affairs.

Lovat, therefore, now clearly perceived that, during the life of the
Queen and of Lord Middleton, he must look for nothing favourable from
the Court of St. Germains. That of Versailles, although, by his account,
decidedly friendly to his release, refused to support those whom the
Chevalier had renounced. He resolved, therefore, to make every exertion
to return to his own country, and to place himself once more at the head
of his clan, who, in spite of his crimes, in spite of his long absence
and imprisonment, had still refused to acknowledge any other chief. The
attempt was indeed desperate, but Lovat resolved to risk it, and to
escape, at all events, from France.

To the vengeance of the Athole family, Lord Lovat always imputed much of
the severity shown him by the Court at St. Germains: and it is probable
that the representations of that powerful house may have contributed to
the odium in which the character of Lord Lovat was universally held. His
own deeds were, however, sufficient to ensure him universal hatred. The
great source of surprise is, that this unscrupulous intriguer, this
unprincipled member of society, seems, at times, during the course of
his eventful life, to have met with friends, firm in their faith to him,
and to have enjoyed, in that respect, the privilege of virtue.

The young heiress of Lovat, Amelia Fraser, was now married to Alexander
Mackenzie, son of Lord Prestonhall; Mr. Mackenzie had adopted the title
of Fraserdale; and a son had been born of this marriage, who had been
named after his grandfather, Hugh. Fraserdale and his lady had taken
possession both of the title and estates of Lord Lovat, during his
absence; but, since the dignity and estates had always been enjoyed by
an heir-male, from the origin of the house of Fraser, these claimants to
the estate of the outlawed Lovat spread a report that the honours and
lands had, in old times, belonged to the Bissets, whose daughter and
only child had married a Fraser, from whom the estates had descended to
the heir of that line. A suit was instituted against Lord Lovat and, on
the ninth of March, 1703, Lord Prestonhall, the father of Fraserdale,
himself adjudged the Lordship and Barony of Lovat to Amelia Fraser. An
entail of the estates and honours