but Broughton continued to be known to the government as an active and committed Royalist supporter; he was fined £180 in 1650 and in 1651 was ordered to be investigated further as a "bloody delinquent". Later in 1651, given a lieutenant-colonel's commission, he joined Charles II's attempt to reclaim the throne in the Third English Civil War and was captured at Worcester. Imprisoned in the Tower of London, his case was considered serious enough for a treason charge as "an example of justice", but he was eventually released on parole. Exile and Booth's Uprising On his release, Broughton joined other Royalist exiles on the Continent. Elements of the exiled Royalist army fought in Spanish service during the Anglo-Spanish War; Broughton may have served in Flanders as part of a force under James, Duke of York. Broughton returned to England prior to 1659, when he took part in Booth's Uprising, an unsuccessful Royalist rebellion that August in Cheshire and North Wales: his former kidnapper Sir Thomas Myddelton also joined the rebels. As one of the more experienced rebel officers he was given command of the infantry at the Battle of Winnington Bridge; the rebels were routed, but along with others from the North Wales contingent Broughton escaped to Myddelton's home at Chirk Castle. Chirk surrendered to Parliamentarian general John Lambert at the end of the month but Lambert specifically excluded Broughton from the articles of surrender, likely due to his previous activities. Broughton was now in danger; a contemporary wrote it was feared "he will lose his life on account of having broken a former parole". He was moved from Chester to the Gatehouse Prison in London, but ongoing political instability in England meant that the main participants in Booth's uprising were not brought to trial before the Restoration brought Charles II back to power in 1660. In the interim Broughton instead spent his time courting Mary Wyke, the widow of the prison's keeper; she only agreed to marry him if he swore an "imprecation" to prove his sincerity. In it, he called down vengeance on himself and his "posterity" if he did not "utterly forebear all rash swearing and all manner of drinking and all manner of debauchery [...] or if ever I am guilty of finding fault with any thing my intended wife shall doe or say". The text of Broughton's "imprecation" later became moderately famous, being printed in