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Online text of Two
Penniless Princesses
(Many thanks to Sandra Laythorpe and others)
Publication
details, summary and further reading for Two Penniless Princesses(Kindly supplied by Amy
de Gruchy) PublicationJanuary - December 1890, serialized in ,
editor C.M. Yonge, publishers Walter Smith and Innes.
1891, published by Macmillan
Contents
The tale is a sequel to C.M.
Yonge's earlier historical novel, The Caged Lion. It commences in the
year 1446, nine years after the murder of James I of Scotland, the caged
lion, and the two penniless princesses, his younger daughters Jean and
Eleanor, are now sixteen and seventeen. Various warring nobles seek to
marry them, to strengthen their own positions. Their brother King James,
and his council decide to send them to their elder sister, the wife of
the Dauphin of France. They are escorted by Sir Patrick and Lady Lilias
Drummond, fictitious characters from The Caged Lion, and accompanied by
George, the son of Earl Douglas, disguised as a man at arms, who loves
the beautiful wayward princess Jean. The group travel first to England,
encountering much pomp, pageantry and luxury, in contrast to the bleakness
of life in Scotland. They also meet many leading historical figures. In
France it is the same, but the girls are made aware of the unhappiness
of their sister whose love for her husband, the Dauphin, is returned by
scorn and dislike. Soon, by the connivance of their sinister brother-in-law,
the princesses are kidnapped by a robber baron and taken to his almost
impregnable castle. They are rescued by their two suitors, Jean's faithful
Scot and Eleanor's Austrian Archduke, both experienced cragsmen, who scale
the walls of the castle and bring them back safely to France. There, their
joy is turned to grief, for their sister has died. However Jean marries
George Douglas, and Eleanor her Archduke, so the tale ends on a happy
note. Until the princesses are kidnapped
the plot is slow-moving and interest is mainly maintained by the interaction
between the characters. This is well shown in the relationship between
the arrogant beautiful Jean and the gentle talented Eleanor whose gift
for second sight is socially embarrassing for her, but informative for
the reader. The historical characters are well drawn. Of the fictitious
ones, Lady Lilias Drummond strongly resembles another Lilias, Lady Merrifield
of The Two Sides of the Shield (1884-1885) and other tales of contemporary
life. Her husband Sir Patrick has developed from an impetuous youth to
a statesmanlike figure, but other characters from The Caged Lion remain
unchanged. The historical information
is generally accurate, and in places shows little known aspects of mediaeval
life. The aim of the tale seems to have been to inform. There is no overt
moral teaching.
Further reading
For contemporary reviews see L. Madden, J.B. Shorthouse and C.M. Yonge,
unpublished thesis, University of London Diploma in Librarianship, 1964.
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