army had captured all the
strongholds in Saxony. Daun had, as usual, advanced with his sixty
thousand men, and intended to winter in Saxony; but before he could
get there, Frederick had dashed south and recaptured Wittenberg and
Leipzig, crossed the Elbe, and driven the scattered corps of the
Confederate army before him. Prince Eugene had also hurried that
way, and defeated his brother, the reigning Duke of Wuertemberg.

Daun moved with the intention of aiding the Confederate army, but
before he could reach them Hulsen had driven them across the
mountain range into Bohemia, and fell back towards Torgau.

Long before this Fergus had received a reply, from his mother, to
his letter announcing the glad news of the restoration of the
estate:

"It will be doubly dear to me," she said, "as having been won back
by your own exertions and bravery. These four years have been an
anxious time, indeed, for me, Fergus; but the thought that you are
restored to your own, as the result of what you have done, makes up
for it all. I quite see that as long as the war continues you
cannot, with honour, leave the king; but I cannot think that this
war will go on very much longer, and I can wait patiently for the
end.

"And, Fergus, I am not quite sure that the end will be that you
will quietly settle down in the glens. A mother's eye is sharp, and
it seems to me that that young countess near Dresden is a very
conspicuous figure in your letters. During the four years that you
have been out, you have not mentioned the name of any lady but her
and her mother; and you always speak of going back there, as if it
were your German home. That is natural enough, after the service
that you have rendered them. Still, 'tis strange that you should
apparently have made the acquaintance of no other ladies. I don't
think that you have written a single letter, since you have been
away, in which you have not said something about this Saxon count
and his family.

"However, even if it should be so, Fergus, I should not be
discontented. It is only natural that you should sooner or later
marry; and although I would rather that it had been into a Scotch
family, it is for you to choose, not me. I am grateful already,
very grateful for the kindness the family have shown you; and am
quite inclined to love this pretty young countess, if she, on her
part, is inclined to love you. I don't think I could have said so
quite as heartily, before I received your last