The later history of Francesca is sufficiently curious. In consequence of her own avoidance of the Court she had no powerful friends in England, and on Rupert's death, she sought refuge with his sister Sophie. The kindly Electress received her as a sister, though she quite realised the difficulty of proving her right to the name. "She says she was married to my brother," wrote Sophie, "but it will be very difficult to prove; and because she has always behaved herself honourably, she has no friends at Court."[54] Of Dudley his aunt wrote as "the noble Dudley Rupert," and she actively assisted him to make good his claims to the property left him by his father.[55] After his death she endeavoured to get his possessions transferred to his mother, and wrote on the subject both to James II and to Lord Craven. "It will help her to enter a convent," she said, "for the poor woman will be inconsolable."[56] But the lively Irish woman, devout, though she was, had no taste for the cloister, and preferred to remain at Sophie's Court, where she was greatly beloved. "She is an upright, good and virtuous woman; there are few like her; we all love her!"[57] declared the Electress. In a later letter she refers to the lively wit of Francesca, "who makes us all laugh,"[58] Evidently she accompanied Sophie on her visits to other potentates, and by William III she was accorded almost royal rank. In 1700 she went with Sophie to visit him at his Palace at Loo, and was there admitted to the royal {362} table. "The King ate in the back stairs, without an armchair, with only the two Electresses, the Princess, and the Irish Lady (Francesca), the Electoral Prince, and the Prince of Hesse," says an Englishman, writing to a friend. "The rest of the company dined at the other tables below."[59] After the English Revolution of 1688 Francesca became a staunch and active Jacobite.[60] She made no secret of her views, and even stimulated Sophie's own sympathy for her exiled relatives. The envoys of William III and of Queen Anne inveighed bitterly against "one Madame Bellamont, a noted lady, who is in favour with the Electress, has been her chief confidante, and to her all the discontented politicians address themselves, Papists and Sectaries. She is of the former communion, and I may safely say she is one of the most silly creatures that ever was born and bred in it, to say nothing of the scandal her person hath so justly deserved."[61] The same writer asserted that Francesca was the only person who could speak English at the Electoral Court; and frequent references to her are found in the despatches of himself and his successor. "A Lady whom they call ye Lady Bellamont," says one, "whose character ye well know already. She was Mistress, and she pretends married, to Prince Rupert, and as she is a zealous Roman Catholic so she seems to be a faithful friend to the Court of St. Germains, but is nevertheless used here with much kindness and civility."[62]