The Tangled Skein

In The Tangled Skein, Baroness Orczy does not depict Queen Mary as darkly as she is usually depicted. Indeed, Mary is portrayed as a woman who is so passionately loving, lovable, and always swayed by justice. The skein is tangled due to Mary's rumored love for Robert d'Esclade, fifth Duke of Wessex, whom the people of England want to be King Consort. He is the embodiment of all chivalry and every virtue dear to an Englishman's heart. So far, he is fancy-free but other than deep respect for and loyalty to his Queen, he has no other feelings, and the idea of marrying her for political reasons repulses him. He is also half-betrothed, but not legally, to Lady Ursula Glynde, whom he hasn't seen since she was a baby. Wessex is repulsed by the prospect of having his wife thrust upon him in any way, and he avoids the girl on purpose, aided and abetted by the Queen, who tries jealousy to keep him from succumbing to Ursula's undoubted fascinations. When you add the powerful Cardinal Moreno and Phillip II of Spain to the mix, the skein becomes even more tangled.