" Continued the sweet voice in mournful cadence. Softly the words floated to the ears of the sorrowing man, like the echo of his harrowing thoughts. As Mary reached the open window she paused and gazed into the room eagerly. As she sees her lover sitting there so silent and alone, her smile is very sweet and tender."

★ Jean left the house filled with terrifying dismay. Is Robert going to marry another? then what would become of her? She would be disgraced and ruined. The thought drove her frantic. "He shall not marry her; he shall give me the protection of his name, for the time being at least," she said to herself angrily. Afterward, the marriage could be easily annulled; she did not want him. She did not want to be tied for life to any farmer.

★ She would then return to Edinburgh. But suppose he would not consent to such an arrangement? Well, she would scare him into it. He was as much to blame as she was anyway. She would not wait to write to him after all; she would tell him now. There was nothing to fear. She would wait until the others had started, then come back and force her claim.

★ If they went on without her, it did not matter much; it was not far to the Inn, she mused determinedly. She stopped in her rapid walk and retraced her steps. As she neared the cottage the door opened and her godparents came out, and with them were Robert and the others. Before they could perceive her, however, she slipped quickly behind an old beech tree back of the well and nearest the house. Breathlessly, impatiently, she waited while they talked, and talked, till she thought they would never go.

★ Then when the coach came and the attendant excitement of its departure, like a guilty creature she stole noiselessly across the intervening space to the cottage, slipped through the open door, and hid behind the fireplace, where Mary had concealed herself some weeks before.

★ Will Mary be tied for life to a farm? Will she be able to easily annul the marriage? Or will he marry her and become a disgrace and a destroyer?

Author's Note:

I have made use of some of the most romantic episodes in the life of Robert Burns, such as his courtship of Mary Campbell and his love affair with Jean Armor, "the Belle of Mauchline," and many of the historical references and details are authentic.

But my chief purpose in using these incidents was to make "Highland Mary" as picturesque, lovable and interesting a character in Fiction as she has always been in the History of Scotland.