This volume concludes the fiction begun in "The Monastery". Scott follows the fortunes of young Roland Graeme as he emerges from rural obscurity to become an attendant of Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity in Lochleven Castle. Roland's part in Mary's escape from the Castle is excitingly narrated, and Mary herself is vividly characterised in captivity, in her brief period of freedom, and in her final defeat. Based on the first edition, this new text restores, from Scott's manuscript and from the evidence of early American editions set from proof sheets at different stages, nearly 2000 authorial readings hitherto omitted. It has also been possible for the first time, on the evidence of history, to make coherent the family relationships in the novel.