During this period the "sorry saga" of the Prince's jewels and silver plate continued unabated. It is difficult to say what transpired over these several months beyond what is contained in the many letters that passed between the Continent and Scotland dealing with the matter, often in vituperative terms. The essential fact is that the silver plate was sent to Mr Haliburton at Dunkirk, probably via Leith as suggested earlier by Strowan. This shipment was made sometime after July 1765, some twenty years after it was rescued from capture by Hanoverian forces after the Battle of Culloden. The Rev. Maitland and Abbé Gordon had actively advised the Prince throughout the exchange of letters; it is apparent that they did not accept Cluny's deathbed statement that he knew nothing about the jewels thus dishonouring his name and lending some credence to the view that 'no good deed goes unpunished'.
During this period, Ewan's son, Duncan moved from attending school in Inverness to the tutelage of the Rev. William Robertson, the distinguished historian and Principal of Edinburgh University. How long he was there is uncertain for his Fraser uncles were adamant that he should be a fully professional soldier and held that "a university education is absolutely unnecessary for a Military Life." They arranged that he undertake studies at Lille in Flanders to prepare him for such a career. It is interesting to note that at age seventeen, Duncan was already an officer in the British army. As will be shown in a later panel, this career choice led to the restoration of the forfeited Cluny estate to Duncan in 1784 after his return from service in the American Revolutionary War, part of which was as a prisoner of the Americans. Thus it was among the first steps toward recovery of the family fortunes.