But the revellers were not troubled by any such disagreeable reflections. Content with the enjoyment of the moment, they gave themselves no thought of the future. How could it be otherwise, when their general and most of their officers set them such an example!
But there was one person amid that thoughtless crowd who was oppressed with care, and felt the danger in which the invading army stood. He felt that, if this culpable indifference on the part of the general should continue, they were lost.
Of all that large assemblage which boasted the presence of so many Scottish nobles and gentlemen—so many wealthy English gentlemen—there was not one who had so much at stake as he.
As he looked at his lovely wife, who was then calling forth rapturous admiration in the Highland dance, and felt how soon he might lose her, he could scarcely repress the pang that crossed his breast.
But she seemed full of excitement, and when she came back to him with Dorothy, he strove to receive them with a smile.
Dorothy was not allowed much repose after her fatiguing dance. She was carried off by Charles Radclyffe, who since her arrival seemed to have fallen desperately in love with her. He told her that her image had been constantly before him during the march, and earnestly besought her to enter into an engagement with him.
To this Dorothy replied that she would not make any immediate engagement, but if he survived the campaign, and renewed his suit, she would consider the matter. The promise did not altogether satisfy him, but he was obliged to be content.