In Honour's Cause, by George Manville Fenn.
________________________________________________________________________
This book is set in the Court of George the First, a Hanoverian King who
was not very popular. To make himself feel more comfortable he had
introduced into his Court a number of German people, and also Dutch
ones. The hero of the story is 17-year old Frank Gowan, who is a page
in the ante-room of the Prince of Wales, the King's eldest son. His
father is an officer in the King's Guard. Another page is Andrew, whose
father is pro-Jacobite, as Andrew is himself.
One evening a German Baron deliberately insults Frank's father, and a
duel ensues, in which the German is very badly wounded, but eventually
recovers. However, Frank's father, who is very loyal to the King, is
sentenced to be kicked out of his Regiment, and to leave the country.
The rest of the book is a series of searches for Frank's father, Sir
Robert Gowan, roof-top escapes, working out who are the spies, and who
the heroes in disguise. Most of the action takes place in the Palace,
in the Park which is still adjacent (and a very pretty part of London),
and in a house in a street just the other side of the Park from Saint
James's Palace. As always with this author there are a number of close
shaves. NH
________________________________________________________________________